From The Ashes
by Cheryl Roberts
Summary: Tommy receives a cry for help through the Morphin' Grid and must travel to another dimension to save the family he never knew.
1. Default Chapter

**Disclaimer:** It's the standard drill: Saban's characters are Saban's --I'm just borrowing them for my own nefarious purposes (which, unfortunately, doesn't include profit)-- and my characters are mine.    I also need to note that a lot of the inspiration for the world of Threa and it's inhabitants come from Wendi and Richard Pini's incredible _Elfquest_ series (if you've never read it but love fantasy and awesome artwork, I highly recommend it).  Also, there are touches from _The Uncanny X-Men_ from the early days of Phoenix and the Shi'ar Empire.  (Shame on you comic fans if you don't catch the references.)  

This is a story that's been creeping about the corners of my brain for a good long while, and it's taken all this time to be inspired enough to do it justice.  Oh, and the story opens shortly after the Turbo movie.  CR November 2000/Sept. 2002

From The Ashes 

by Cheryl Roberts

Chapter 1:

"Ashes to ashes; dust to dust."

Tommy barely heard the minister's words as he stood at the grave side of the woman he loved and would never forget.

Kimberly Ann Hart.

He was numb as the other mourners walked past, some placing flowers on the casket, others offering condolences to Kim's family and to him.  Mrs. Hart (he'd never remember to call her by her new married name) had asked him if he'd like to stand with the family, saying Kimberly would have wanted it that way.  He couldn't tell if Mrs. Hart knew about the letter or not.

In any event, Tommy had accepted the generous offer.

He remained stolid, unmoved, until the first of his friends had come forward:  Jason.  His best friend wrapped him in a fierce hug that threatened to crack his ribs.  Jason's pain was as acute as his own.  Tommy nearly lost his composure.

Trini was next.  He could not ever recall seeing her cry; now, salty rivers streamed down her cheeks.  He held Kim's best friend for a long while before she was able to let go.

They were all there, Rangers past and present.  Even Billy had returned from Aquitar upon hearing the grievous news.  And Tommy knew that Zordon and Alpha were watching as well.  No doubt other eyes observed from afar, gloating over the loss of the spirited original Pink Ranger.  However, she hadn't fallen in battle at the hands of their enemies.  Natural causes, the coroner had said; she had died peacefully –albeit inexplicably– in her sleep.

"Tommy?"

It took him a moment to realize he was being spoken to.  He looked up to find Katherine regarding him with concern.

"It's time to go," she said quietly.

It was only then that Tommy noticed that both of Kim's parents had headed towards their cars and that the other mourners had begun to disperse.  He looked to his girlfriend, her eyes full of sympathy.  She, better than anyone, knew what Kim still meant to him --would always mean to him, and she loved him in spite of that.  There were days when he felt he truly didn't deserve that love.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to stay for a while longer.  I need some time --alone," he choked out, his composure more precarious than he wanted to admit.

"I understand."  A slender, pale hand gave his arm a reassuring squeeze, and she offered him a peck on the cheek.

Tommy was motionless as the graceful blonde caught up with the rest of their teammates.  At last, he was alone with his grief.  He approached the casket, laying a hand on the cool, polished surface.  There were flowers strewn everywhere; a lot of people had come to say their final good-byes.  From inside his coat, Tommy plucked a pink rosebud.

"Hey, Beautiful," he murmured, his voice cracking; a tear finally slipped free of his iron control.  He laid the flower at the head of the casket.  "I know this really isn't you here –just some clone, but I also know that she'd still be alive if you were."

He closed his eyes as memories surged forward, taking him back to a day not too long after he'd received Kimberly's letter....

***

Tommy had absolutely no desire to get out of bed.  It was dark and warm and comfortable.  It was Saturday; his folks had no plans.  The gang had no plans.  There was no reason to get out of bed, so he simply didn't.

_I am **not** sulking,_ he insisted to himself, trying not to think about the fact that Kimberly, his girlfriend of two years, had ended their relationship in a cold-hearted letter, telling him she had found someone else.  He and Kim had never made any promises to wait, never exchanged class rings or anything.  Even so, it had always felt to him that they'd be together forever.  From the first time he'd looked into those soft brown eyes of hers....

_Guess not._

Almost every day since her letter had arrived (_she didn't even have the decency to break my heart in person, let alone in private!_), he found himself wondering what had gone wrong and wishing that it didn't have to hurt so much.

Even after all this time, it was still hard maintaining a brave face in front of the others.  He knew they meant well with their sympathy, but sometimes it set his teeth on edge to glimpse the pity in their eyes.  At times, it was more than he could bear.  Like now.

So, he wasn't particularly thrilled when his communicator chime sounded.

Biting back a groan, he responded, "Yes, Zordon?"

_"As soon as you are awake and dressed, report to the Power Chamber,"_ Zordon ordered.

"Will do," was his lackluster confirmation.  However, he had to admit to being puzzled.  What was up?  Obviously, it wasn't a _dire_ emergency; otherwise, he wouldn't have been given time to get dressed.  Still, he had detected a note of urgency in their mentor's command.  Out of curiosity as much as out of habit, Tommy obeyed, dressing quickly and teleporting out.

*

When he arrived at their headquarters, he found Adam, Billy and Rocky already assembled.

"Where are Kat and Tanya?" he queried, noting the female Rangers' absences.

"This is not a matter in which they can help," Zordon replied, further piquing Tommy's interest.

"What is this about?" Billy asked.

"I will allow our guest to explain.  All that I ask is that you listen to her plea with open minds."

At that, the four turned, spying a heretofore unnoticed figure standing in the shadows.  At their leader's unorthodox introduction, she stepped forward.

The first thing that struck Tommy was how petite their guest was.  She couldn't have been any taller than Tanya, even with her heels, and in spite of her armor, she was still slender.  Though small, there was something about the woman that told Tommy she was not to be underestimated.  Her white and silver armor with it's winged epaulets and flared gauntlets at the wrists and knees, her ornate helmet and shimmering, rose-colored, cape indicated that her garb was ceremonial, but the sword at her hip looked battle tested.  There was an emblem on her breastplate... a bird of some sort, but Tommy couldn't quite make it out.  And she carried herself with the air of one used to commanding others' respect –through having earned it, not by being born to it, though he couldn't have said how he made that distinction.  It was just a feeling....

"The people of Threa call me Imbera; I am to them what Zordon is to you," the armored woman began.  She paced before the quartet anxiously.  "Threa is almost a negative image of Earth, existing in the same space but in another dimension.  Our peoples cannot exist on each other's worlds without employing artificial means."

Which explained the iridescent aura Tommy detected flickering closely about her.

"I was born of this Earth; however, the previous Imbera of Threa was in need of assistance from one of this world to help in the fight against Norzod and his minions.  For reasons too lengthy to explain at this juncture, I was deemed a suitable candidate, and once I'd heard Atir's plea, I could not refuse to help.  Their shapers altered my genetic structure so that I wouldn't be dependent upon –and be handicapped by– a mechanical shield, and I was imbued with powers not unlike those of your Morphin' Grid.

"I was assured that once the battle was over, I would be restored to my original state and returned to Earth.  Those assurances were critical in my acceptance.  However, in the last battle, Atir died; in her final moments, she invested me with her cosmic powers, which was possible due to my dual genetic structure.  There was no time and no other choice.  With those powers, I and my teammates were able to stop Norzod.

"When all was settled, it was time for me to return home.  There were... complications."  

At last, the interdimensional visitor paused as if gathering herself to continue.

"Thanks to the Imbera powers, my genetic structure could not be reconfigured as long as I held them.  We also discovered that I could not pass those powers to anyone else as Atir had given them to me.  I needed to pass them on to someone with a genetic pattern similar to mine... in short, they could only be passed on to my child.  And while I was altered to be able to exist on Threa, those alterations did not include the reproductive system; I am biologically incompatible with my teammates.

"I can no longer return to Earth, either," she sighed heavily.  "Again, another miscalculation....  Time passes differently between the two dimensions.  Months have passed on Earth since I left while decades have passed on Threa.

"However, I still need an heir to pass my powers onto.  Norzod is not destroyed.  He may return, and I cannot allow Threa to be without an Imbera, even though I have taken steps to insure that she will always have her protectors.  I have come to you to ask if one of you would consent to be the father of my child."

"Excuse me?" Rocky gulped, the only interruption of the woman's tale.

"I need a Terran male to sire my child," the Imbera reiterated.  "That would provide my child with the necessary genetic background to be able to wield my powers.  Plus, the babe's structure could be adapted for full compatibility with Threans before he or she is exposed the powers.  The healers and shapers feel that a father who has been exposed to powers similar to ours –like your Morphin' powers– would enable the child to better wield the Imbera powers.  Zordon has graciously allowed me to present my plea to you.

"Threa needs her defender.  Will you help me?"

Four pairs of eyes turned towards their mentor.

"The Imbera speaks the truth, Rangers.  I have conducted my own scans, and they bear her out.  Threa needs our help, but this is not something I can order you to do," the Eltarian said.

"What, exactly, would we need to do?" Billy asked.

"Scans would need to be run on those who are willing to determine compatibility," Zordon elaborated.  "From there, the Imbera has asked that, if more than one candidate is acceptable, I select the final donor."

"Donor... sperm donor," Adam realized.

"Correct.  The Imbera cannot risk a prolonged lowering of her shields as she can no longer survive in Earth's atmosphere.  The sperm would have to be introduced into her womb by the quickest means available."

"We've already established that I am at peak fertility this day," the woman interjected, somewhat self-consciously.  "Conception should not be a problem."

"What if none of us is compatible... or willing?" Tommy wondered.

"If none are compatible or willing, I will contact Jason and Zachary.  And if we meet failure or refusal there, we shall seek out a non-powered donor," Zordon concluded.

"Would you mind if we discussed this amongst ourselves?" Tommy requested, off balance and needing some time to digest all he'd just heard.

"Of course," the Imbera answered.  "This is not a decision to be made lightly –nor was the decision to ask you.  I realize that I am asking you to create a child that you, in all probability, will never see."

Tommy gestured for the others to follow, and they headed outside the Power Chamber.

"Is she for real?" Rocky blurted out.

"According to Zordon, she is," Adam said.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm willing to help out, if I can," Billy remarked.

"Why?" Tommy asked, genuinely curious.  He was rather ambivalent about complying.  He had strong feelings about the subject of family.  Creating a child he would never see  --never know-- and just as importantly, would never know him --just as he had never known his birth parents....

"Threa needs our help.  The Imbera needs our help."

"She can't return home.  She can't connect with her new people.  This child would be all she has," Adam realized.

"A child bred to be a warrior... raised to fight and hold a great power...." Tommy pointed out.

"... to keep the peace... to safeguard a planet," Rocky added.  "Count me in."

"At this juncture, all we're doing is agreeing to be tested," Billy cautioned.

"I'll go through with the testing at least," Adam agreed.

His companions turned to Tommy expectantly, and he sighed resignedly.  "All right.  Zordon can check me out, but I won't promise beyond that."

As the Ranger men turned back to their command post, Billy hung back to walk beside their team leader.

"What's wrong?" he asked of the Red Ranger.  "This reluctance to help isn't like you.  This wouldn't have anything to do with what happened between you and Kimberly, would it?"

"I don't know.  Maybe," Tommy answered grudgingly.  "Kim and I talked about getting married... having kids....  I always wanted to have a family of my own."

"I can respect that, but helping the Imbera won't destroy that dream."

"Yeah, but if I'm the one selected and I go through with it, I'll always wonder...."

"We all will, Tommy, but we'll also know that somewhere a part of us is insuring the safety of an entire planet, even as we protect the Earth.  That's a legacy anyone would be proud of."

*

All four agreed to the testing --the most exhausting series of bioscans they'd ever undergone.  While they waited for the results, Tommy had hoped to talk further with the Imbera, but she had retreated to the privacy of Zordon's personal chambers, saying she did not wish to influence the outcome in any way.

They were all anxious.  Even Rocky was unusually silent.  As they waited, Tommy realized that one of them was on the verge of being a father –even himself.  He knew deep down that he would not refuse should he be the one chosen.  He also knew that none of them would hold it against the others if he wasn't selected.

To pass the time, Billy had called up all that Zordon's data banks had on Threa.  There wasn't much, but what there was was a little disconcerting.  As the Imbera said, her adopted world was a negative image of Earth.  It was strange seeing oceans where continents had been and vice versa.  It was more of a green/brown marble in space than a blue one.

"Rangers!"

Zordon's unexpected summons had them all jumping.

"I have the results."

The young men quickly assembled before their mentor.

"Of the four of you, two pose the best biological matches," the Eltarian began.  "Adam and Tommy."

There was no undue celebration of the fact, merely the nodding of heads in acknowledgment.

"All things being equal at the biological level, it is my opinion that Tommy, due to his greater and more varied exposure to the Morphin' Grid, would be the better candidate.  What shall I tell the Imbera?"

"I'll help her," Tommy replied.

"A difficult decision.  Both she and I thank you."  Zordon then turned his attention to the other three Rangers.  "The final preparations will take some time.  It would be best if you returned to Angel Grove lest King Mondo try to take advantage of your absence."

"Right, Zordon," Adam confirmed.

"May we tell Tanya and Kat what's going on?" Billy queried, looking from Zordon to Tommy.

"Yeah, they should know –just in case," Tommy answered.

"Good luck," Rocky called out as the three dematerialized.

"Okay, Zordon.  What do I have to do?" Tommy asked, finding the idea of going into the restroom and filling a jar a bit unsettling for some reason.  It seemed so... cold.  Impersonal.  It didn't seem right somehow.

"Actually, Tommy, I believe it would be advisable for you and the Imbera to discuss this first," Zordon recommended.

"All right," he agreed, a little more relieved, though he couldn't say why.

"Also, should you both prefer, there is a way for conception to take place in the more usual manner.  You and the Imbera can be teleported into the Morphin' Grid.  There, beyond time and space, she would be able to exist with out her armor and personal shield."

"Thanks... I think," Tommy mumbled dubiously, not sure why Zordon even mentioned it.  He couldn't imagine going _that_ far to help.

Tommy proceeded to Zordon's meditation chamber and found the distraught woman pacing, ringing her hands.  She had abandoned her shimmering cape.  Somehow, she seemed less intimidating.  She looked like someone desperately in need of comfort, as if she'd borne a great burden alone for a long time.

"Imbera," he began, his voice sounding somewhat timid due to his nervousness, "Zordon finished the testing, and I'd be honored to help you out."

"Thank you."  Her voice trembled as she spoke.

Tommy couldn't be certain, but he could have sworn that she had murmured, "I hoped it would be you," under her breath.  Instead of pursuing that, he went on, "Zordon thought we might want to talk before hand...."

"... and you'd like to know more about the woman who will be the mother of your child," she completed for him, but there was no reticence in her voice.  "I can't say that I blame you."

"I figured you'd want to know more about me, too," he said, puzzled.

"I know more about you, Tommy, than you can imagine," she responded cryptically.

Though feeling decidedly off balance, Tommy proceeded with his questions.  "Would you tell me who you were on Earth and what you were like?  I know it doesn't matter since I'll never see you again, but I'd like to know."

"Who was I?"  Her words trailed off as she reached for the buckles on her helmet.

Tommy found himself looking for a seat as his knees grew weak when the concealing face mask was pulled aside.  Though thirty or so years older, hair streaked with early traces of gray and worry lines creasing the corners of her eyes, there was no mistaking his former girlfriend.

"K-Kimberly?" he stammered, at last slumping into a chair.

"Hi, Tommy," she murmured, tears gathering in her eyes.  Neither could move or speak for several moments.  Then Kim rasped out, "I've dreamed for so long... but I never thought I'd see you again.  Oh, God, Tommy, I've missed you!"

"What... how...?" he sputtered, his mind reeling.  Dimly, he realized that if Zordon had scanned her, he had to have known... why hadn't he said anything?

Kimberly knelt on the floor before him and took his hands.  Numbly, Tommy realized that he wasn't feeling her gloves; her energy field completely enveloped her like a second skin.  He wanted to draw his hands away in horror, but he hadn't the strength –not after peering into the depths of Kim's eyes.  The enormity of the pain and loneliness therein was staggering.

"It's complicated, Tommy," she began with a sigh.  "It all started on my plane ride back to Florida after Christmas.  One minute, everything was normal, and the next, everything had stopped –except for me.  Then, Atir appeared, asking for my help.  She explained about Threa and her Rangers and what prompted her to seek me out.

"In Threa's universe, Zordon is evil –Norzod, and his minions were our evil twins.  I didn't figure out until later that Atir was Rita's duplicate.  What had made her come to our universe in search of help was that Norzod had killed her Pink Ranger, and without all the powers balanced, the rest of her Rangers were in danger.  There wasn't time to train a replacement, so she searched the multiverse for other Pink Rangers.  I was perfect.  Not only was I a retired Ranger, but I was familiar with how Norzod's minions thought and fought.

"Even before Atir told me about the clone and the possibility of returning home, I'd pretty much decided to help.  Any of us would have done the same.  I also found out that if I'd turned her down, she'd have approached all of the retired Rangers, even the guys."

"What's this about a clone?" Tommy asked.

"It was Aitr's way of insuring that my life wasn't interrupted any more than necessary.  The clone would take my place on Earth until such time as I could be returned.  Sahr, the Blue Ranger,  D'Ez --Atir's right hand man, and a team of Threan shapers created my duplicate before altering my genes so I could live in their dimension.  They also established a psychic link between the two of us so that the clone could know what I did and I'd be able to experience 'my' life through her."

"So, what happened?  What went wrong?"  Tommy was beginning to understand the situation.  Kim had been right; given the same set of circumstances, he would have done the same thing.

"Nothing was supposed to be irreversible, in spite of the fact that it was difficult for the shapers to change me.  Human tissue is not as malleable as Threan," Kim continued, her voice thick with emotion.  "Atir was already training a new Pink Ranger to take my place.  Then, Norzod captured the Imbera.  We were all linked through her –like she was connected to the Morphin' Grid directly then filtered the powers to us.  We could feel everything Norzod did to her.  God, Tommy, for as good as Zordon is, his duplicate was that evil.  Zedd and Rita have nothing on him.

"We tried to rescue her, but....  When we found her, she was dying.  She had to transfer the Imbera powers before she died, otherwise we'd all be lost.  I was the most receptive candidate, and I told her to give them to me.

"It was too much power," Kim said quietly, closing her eyes at the memory. 

 Tommy could feel her anguish and pulled her into his arms just as he would have once upon a time.

"It's a wonder I didn't die.  I felt like I had exploded.  I felt as if all the energy in the universe had been funneled into me.  I was lost... drowning.  I lost control....  I don't remember much, just struggling to keep from losing myself in it all.  I have you and Jason and all those things you taught the rest of us about meditation and focus to thank for surviving that; though afterwards, there were days when I wish I had died.

"When all the fireworks had died down, we discovered that Norzod had escaped, but his dark Rangers were toast.  After that, that's when I wanted out, but I couldn't leave until I gave up Atir's powers.                                                            

"It took months to find someone who could possibly host the Imbera powers, and then we discovered that I couldn't transfer them as Atir had.  Thanks to a combination of being from another dimension, holding several levels of Pink Ranger Powers, being genetically altered and my actually having used the Imbera powers, the powers were bonded to me –attuned to my genetic structure.  The only way I could be rid of them was to pass them on to my child.  At the same time, we discovered just how drastic the time flow was between our dimensions.  An hour on Earth is the equivalent of five days on Threa.  I had aged years already, but my clone hadn't.  D'Ez, suggested transferring my consciousness into the clone or even cloning me a new body, but since I wasn't a natuarl-born telepath, there was a danger that my consciousness would be lost. There was no way I could return to Earth.

"So there I was.  I had a power I didn't want.  I couldn't go home.  I'd never see your or my family again except through the eyes of my duplicate.  I was miserable.  Then, Norzod returned.

"I won't go into the bloody details... just that we managed to imprison him in another dimension.  He'll be back; we all know it, so I've taken steps to make sure Threa will be safe.  I've started a school to train new Rangers.  The only matter left is that of my eventual successor."

She hung her head, embarrassed.

"Tommy, through all of this, I never stopped loving you or hoping I'd be reunited with you," she said earnestly, gazing at him as if willing him to accept her words.  "I never wanted anyone else to be my lover or husband.  We tried sperm donors... invitro fertilization, and every sort of method known to Threan science.  When all that failed, we had to try the natural method."

"So, you're married?" Tommy gulped, thinking he had figured out at last why she sent the letter.

"No, I'm not," she smiled amid her blush.  "Threan marriage customs are quite different from ours.  There are three types of relationships: heartbonds, lifebonds and matebonds.  Heartbonds are lovers.  Lifebonds are what we'd call being married.  Mate-bonding is a purely biological drive; one can mate-bond without being heartbound or lifebound.  What I'm trying to say is that I tried mate-bonding with several of my teammates. I've had... lovers."

"Oh," Tommy muttered quietly.

"I'm sorry, Tommy," Kim whispered, tears filling her eyes.  "I never wanted to betray you like this, but I had no choice.  I had to try whatever I could...."

"It's all right, Kim," he soothed, trying hard to hide his feelings.  While he understood why she had done what she did, it still hurt.

"I did tell them that I was already lifebonded, though," she quickly added, "so we tried to keep my mate-bonding 'in the family' as it were; I paired up with just my teammates.  But when that failed, we started talking about widening the search; then Sahr and Ree –think Billy and Trini but as a couple– discovered that I'd never be able to have a child with a Threan father; I didn't have the mental component to trigger the link that's essential in Threan procreation.  Threans have extremely long lifespans, so they don't reproduce as humans do; in fact, Threan children are very rare.

"Finally, we came to the conclusion that I'd have to return home somehow and find a human to father my child."

"Thirty years, Tommy," she said at last.  "For you, it's been about three months since you last saw me at Christmas.  For me, it's been three decades since I last saw you." 

At that point, Kim lost her composure and sobbed in Tommy's arms.

When the emotional storm had abated somewhat, Tommy at last ventured the one question he most wanted answered and most dreaded asking.

"Why the letter?" he forced himself to query.  "If you still loved me... if you could still live through the clone, why'd you break up with me?  Or was that the clone's idea?"

"While she's capable of independent thought, the letter was my idea."

"Why?"

"Would _you_ want to watch someone else –even a copy of yourself– live the life you should have had?  Trust me; it's sheer torture," Kim asserted.  "But the truth of the matter is, I wanted to make you angry with me –angry enough to cut me out of your life so that you wouldn't be hurt when the clone dies."

"What do you mean?" Tommy asked with mounting trepidation.

"The clone and I share more than a psychic link.  I'm her lifeline.  She'll live only as long as I do.  Tommy, I'm almost fifty now; in another five Earth months, I'll be one hundred –if I live that long.  I could very well die in battle before that, or I could hang around for years, but I seriously doubt I'll last much longer than a full Earth year.

"Tommy, if you feel for me what I feel for you, you'd be devastated.  You'd almost want to die yourself.  I didn't want you to have to face that."

"You think I wouldn't in spite of everything?  I wanted to die when I got your letter," he asserted.

"I'm sorry," she apologized.  "Do you think it was easy for me to make that decision?"

"No... oh, God, Kim...."  It was his turn to cling to her until his emotional storm had passed.

"I love you, Tommy; I always will," she vowed.

"Same here, Beautiful."  He wanted to kiss her but the force field prevented him.

"But you have to let me go," she said.  "After today, I probably won't ever be able to return.  I'll never see you again."

"Yes, you will.  Every time you look at our child," he replied.

"And we won't even be able to create him together –just through a cup and an injection," Kim sighed, bitterly disappointed.  "I knew that going into this, but I wish...."  Her cheeks flared with a blush at what she wished.

Tommy blushed for the exact same reason.  Then he recalled Zordon's words and smiled.  He exclaimed, "There is a way!"

"What?"

"Zordon said there was a way that we could get together as 'nature intended' in the Morphin' Grid."

"_In_ the Grid?  Tommy, that can be very dangerous.  After thirty years of filling the equivalent of Zordon's shoes, I probably know about as much as Billy does about the Morphin' Grid, and...."

"Please, Kim; let's try," Tommy implored her.  "I'd always hoped that someday we'd be married... have a family....  If we can't have that, then I'll settle for being mate-bonded or lifebonded or whatever you call it," he proposed.

And she accepted.

* * * 

That had been –what?-- over a year ago?  He never forgot the timeless span they'd spent suspended in the Morphin' Grid: the things that Kim had taught him... the things that they had shared... but most importantly, the fact that when Kim had left, she had been carrying their child.

_Did we have a son or daughter?_ Tommy wondered as he gazed at the flower strewn casket.  Doing the math, he figured that if an earth month was equal to 10 Threan years, his child would be well over 120 years... closer to 160, if he or she lived that long.  Kim never said what a Threan's life span was.

He had once asked Zordon if there was any way to check on Kim, but the dimensional interference proved to be too great.  Earth's proximity to Threa made scanning difficult.  So Tommy had been forced to carry on in ignorance.

He never told the others the truth about the Imbera or that he'd been anything more than a donor.  He had wanted to be faithful to his vow to Kimberly... in his heart he regarded them as a married couple, but Kim had been adamant that he try to find someone else... to find a heartbond as the Threans viewed it.  She wanted to know that he'd be all right, that he'd find happiness.  So he'd told her about Kat and how she'd helped him through the worst of the hurt in the wake of the letter and how he thought he was beginning to develop feelings for her.  He'd seen the momentary flash of hurt in Kimberly's eyes when she listened to his words, though she had tried hard to hide it, but she gave him her blessing.  She thought that he and Kat would make a good couple, and she said that it'd help her knowing that he was taken care of... that he wouldn't be lonely.

Remarkably enough, with time and Kat's incredible patience and support, he had begun to let go of Kim.  He'd always love her, and he'd been up front with Kat about that, but he was able to move on.  Or so he'd thought until the Muranthias mess when Divatox had kidnaped Jason and Kimberly's clone.  Seeing her again, even knowing that it wasn't really Kim, had rocked his world more than he'd ever anticipated.

_And now I'm a widower._

Kimberly was truly gone now, and if he truly loved her he'd do as she would have wanted: he'd grieve, then he would live.

Tommy made the monumental effort to collect himself.  He could see that the cemetery workers were waiting to finish their job: that of lowering the casket into the ground.

"Good-bye, Beautiful.  I'll always love you," he murmured.  

He turned to join his friends and family, but something flickering in his peripheral vision brought him up short.  He glanced over to a small knot of elm trees not far from the grave site.  A moment ago, he could have sworn he'd seen someone standing there, but now.... Wait.  There was someone there... in the shadow of the trunks....  Tommy frowned.  It could have been one of the other mourners, but he didn't think so.  It was June, and the person was decked out in a heavy black coat, black boots, and a hat that was pulled low over his face.  It was too warm for anyone to be so bundled up.  Something about him (or her, there was no telling from this distance) raised the hackles on the back of Tommy's neck.  

Tommy was relatively certain that the person hadn't been there for the entirety of the grave side ceremony.  One of the others would have noticed; the team had kept on alert in case unwanted guests crashed the funeral.  Dimitria would have radioed if their monitors had picked up any activity from Divatox or their other foes.  

Tommy cautiously took a step closer.  The being in black noticed the movement but didn't pull away.  If anything, he came out of concealment and approached.

"Peace, Tommy Oliver."

The voice was low, masculine, and sounded oddly familiar to Tommy.  Still, he remained tensed as the man closed the distance between them and offered Tommy his hand.

"Forgive the intrusion, but I had to come.  My deepest sympathies for your loss."

"Thank you," Tommy responded automatically, shaking the proffered hand.  The man spoke English with an unusual formality and musically intoned accent.  It was disconcerting not to be able to see the man's eyes, merely the bottom portion of his face.  "I don't mean to be rude, but do I know you?"

"We have never met, but yes, you should know me."

With that, the man removed his hat, and Tommy received the shock of his life.  The lined, mature face that grinned back at him boasted large brown eyes with a thick fringe of lashes, a sharp nose, and a smile that was achingly familiar.  It was almost like looking into a mirror that aged him.

"A son," he whispered breathlessly, knowing to the depth of his soul that this was the child he and Kimberly had created.

The man smiled –Kim's smile– and it danced in those older eyes.  He brushed a longish strand of hair –one that was more silver gray than brown– out of his eyes.

"Hello, father."

In that moment, Tommy felt decidedly light headed, and the next thing he knew, he was being helped onto a bench in the shade of the trees.

"This meeting is no less difficult for me," his son assured him, also taking a seat.  "I knew you existed... heard about you all my life... and now to finally meet you...."  The man regarded him critically.  "Mother always told me about the time difference between our worlds.  She had told me you would be young in comparison to me... my son Rill is older than you."

"You have a child?" Tommy gulped.  "I'm a grandfather?"

"Children.  Two sons and a third child on the way.  Ayn assures me this one is a girl."  The man took a steadying breath.  "I imagine you have a great many questions."

"Millions of them," Tommy concurred.  "I suppose I should start out with what Kim named you."

"Where are my manners?  My given name is Thomas James Oliver, Junior, but Mother always called me Jamie."

Tommy was a bit surprised by the choice.  He remembered telling Kim once that he wanted to name his first born after Jason.

"I was _almost_ named Jason Thomas Oliver, but Mother said that she wanted to reserve that for my eventual half brother."

Half brother.  The son he'd have with Katherine... or whoever he ultimately wound up marrying.  Tommy felt a lump in his throat.

"Your mom talked about me a lot?" Tommy ventured next, a hopeful lift to his voice.

"Yes.  She wanted me to know my father, even if I would never see him," Jamie explained.  "She even went so far as to link our minds to share her thoughts."

"How could she do that?  Kim didn't have telepathic powers," Tommy interjected.

"The Imbera powers are vast, conveying incredible abilities upon the wielder.  There was little Mother could not do after a lifetime of possessing them."

"Are you the Imbera now?  Was Kim able to pass the powers onto you as she'd hoped?"

"Yes."

That single, terse answer conveyed much to Tommy.  There was a world of pain behind his son's response.

"How did Kim die?" he asked softly.  Part of him really didn't want to know, but another part needed the closure the difficult answers would provide.  He already had the sense that she had not gone peacefully in her sleep as her clone had. 

His question, however, had profound affect on his son.  Jamie's composure broke, and a look of profound sadness filled his face, barely checked tears welling in his eyes.  Tommy suddenly realized that Jamie had never grieved for his mother.  It had only been a matter of days since he'd heard about Kim's death, but for Jamie, she'd been gone for months already.  Yet, he was the Imbera now, the mentor/leader of the Threan Rangers.  He probably hadn't had time to address his grief.  Tommy well knew how heavy the burden of leadership could be.  Quite often, he felt as if his emotions were secondary, better kept tucked away so he could be strong for the team.  There were times when he had felt that the only thing that had kept him human was Kimberly.

And he knew exactly how she'd have handled this situation. She would have pulled Jamie into her arms and let him get it all out.  He didn't quite feel comfortable doing that, so he simply placed a sympathetic hand on his son's shoulder.  However, Jamie turned to him and unselfconsciously threw his arms around him.  Tommy held his son then and let him vent his pent up emotions.

"Thank you," Jamie said at last, drained, but his emotions under control once more.

"Any time," Tommy answered, smiling gently.  Then he noticed the cemetery personnel coming towards them.  Also, there were other mourners nearby.  "Maybe we should take a walk and finish this conversation elsewhere."

"Agreed," Jamie replied, also noting their lack of privacy.  "I was thinking, perhaps, that I should address you as 'Tommy,' at least in public.  I am delighted to be able to call you father at last, but if we should be overheard, the explanations could be difficult."

"You have a point," Tommy concurred.  While he liked the idea of this son he'd never known calling him 'father,' (his heart swelled with pride every time he heard the word), he did feel rather strange being addressed thusly by someone who looked like his grandfather.  "I don't mind if you call me Tommy."

"It will be difficult," Jamie agreed with that all-too familiar grin.  Then his expression became distant, inquisitive.  "Those people watching us from the hill, are they my grandparents?"

Tommy followed his gaze to the drive at the top of the slope where the cars were parked.  He saw that his mother and father were still with Kim's parents.  Kat and Jason were also with them.

"Yes, they are," Tommy answered at last.  "I'm going to have some explaining to do."

"I had no desire to complicate matters for you."

"It's all right; I'm used to coming up with creative explanations," the retired Ranger assured his son.

"You asked about mother's death," Jamie began with difficulty as they ambled along the neat paths through the rows of monuments.  "She died in battle with Norzod --trying to save me."

Tommy could feel how much guilt was mixed in with Jamie's sadness, and he knew he'd blame himself just as much had he been in his son's shoes.

"Norzod had kidnaped me and used me to blackmail the Rangers: me for the Imbera.

"You see, I was still a civilian at that point.  Mother did not want to draw any undue attention to me, lest Norzod discover my existence before I was ready to face him.  She knew she could not keep me a secret forever, but she wanted me to have as normal a life as possible for as long as possible.  She said she did not want me to know the kind of life she had due to her powers.  So I was raised, educated and trained as any other Threan candidate to the Academy.  I graduated, lifebonded and, with the aid of the healers and shapers, sired children.  Yet, I always knew that someday I would inherit the Imbera powers.  I thank mother for the life she gave me, but I only wish that she had given me my birthright in time for me to save her."

For the first time since he'd begun his explanation, Jamie paused,  head bowed, fists clenched at his sides.  His whole body trembled with the emotional storm within. Quietly, Tommy rested a hand on his shoulder and waited.

"Not only had mother's powers enabled her to share her memories of you with me, but they allowed us to share a telepathic rapport akin to the naturally occurring link that exists between Threan parents and their offspring.  Through that bond, I lived her last hours.

The neo-Imbera's voice had dropped so low Tommy had to strain to hear it.

"Through her eyes I saw Sahr and Ree and the rest of mother's teammates –my family– perish while she could do nothing to stop the slaughter so long as Norzod held me.  I felt every blow that fiend landed on mother when she finally faced him herself; she did little to defend herself, carefully concealing the fact that what little fight she put up disguised her attempts to free me.

"I was frantic to reach her, but I knew I would be too late.  I could feel her dying even as I fought my way through Norzod's fortress.  I tried to let her know that I was all right... that she should just go ahead and let Norzod taste the full force of her powers, but she claimed I was too vulnerable still.

"I do not know how she held on until I reached the surface of the asteroid, but somehow she did.  When I finally arrived on the battlefield, Norzod himself was standing over her, gloating.  At last, mother called on her powers –when it was too late.  Norzod knew this and laughed.  I could feel her summoning the whole of her abilities; she never had before.  She had always been afraid of totally losing herself in their vastness.  Now, she called them in their cosmic totality, holding them within until she fairly glowed like a star.  Norzod stopped laughing.  I don't think he had ever truly realized the full potential of the Imbera powers.  Then, mother released a mighty blast, but not at Norzod.  The blast hit me.  It was the power transfer.

"Even though I had been prepared... knew what to expect... I very nearly did not survive the experience.  Mother did all she could for me, but in those first few moments, I blasted a sizable crater in the surface of the asteroid  --incinerated Norzod's citadel and every last creature within those walls.  By the ancients, their death cries will remain with me until the end of my days.  Unfortunately, the fiend's was not among them.

"However, Norzod had been weakened by the destruction I had wrought.  Not only that, but he had been clipped by the transfer beam, and the purity of the power had been great enough to stagger him.  And he made a fatal error.  He assumed that the power transfer meant mother was finished, so he turned his attention to me, thinking to take advantage of my unsettled state.  Mother, however, still stubbornly clung to a thread of life, and once Norzod's attention was on me, she mustered the last of her reserves and ran him through with the sharp point of a shattered crystalline spire.

"The look on his face....  Mother saw it through my eyes, and I saw her smile.  Norzod's dying thoughts were open to all; he was horrified that his death came, not at the hands of the greatest power in our dimension but at the hands of one insignificant human female.

"Before his lifeless corpse struck the ground, it disintegrated, and a wave of black energy radiated out from it.  By this time, I was by mother's side; I wanted to heal her, but she ordered me to contain the blast to the asteroid."

"If that blast had been loosed on your galaxy, Norzod would have ultimately won," Tommy said knowingly.

"So mother informed me," Jamie admitted defeatedly.  "It was either contain the wave or save her.  She died in my arms."

There were no words of comfort that Tommy could offer in that moment as the pain which lanced through him was as acute as his son's.  None were needed, though, and both men paid tribute to the woman they loved with their silence.

But when the moment passed, Tommy knew that Jamie was still in need of reassurance.

"Jamie... son...." he began awkwardly, "Don't blame yourself for your mother's death.  I don't."  And for the first time, Tommy saw a glimmer of hope in his child's guilt-ridden eyes.  "I know it may not mean much to you now, but you made the right choice. I'd have done the same thing you did, and afterwards, I'd have felt the same way you do: that you'd failed Kimberly.

"But you didn't fail her.  You did exactly as she wanted.  Kim sacrificed herself to save her son, her grandchildren, her adopted world... and quite possibly the world of her birth.  Since Earth and Threa are so close, there's no telling what may have happened if Norzod had won.  By stopping that black wave, you made sure she didn't fail."

"Mother always wished you could have been there to offer me advice about being a leader.  She said you were just amazing and took to it so well," Jamie said with gratitude for Tommy's words.

"That's because I had the best teacher you could ever want in Jason and Kim's love and support whenever I had my doubts," Tommy confessed.

Jamie nodded.  Suddenly, the band about his wrist began beeping, and he glanced at it in alarm.

"My time grows short," he replied to Tommy's questioning gaze.  "The reason I came is because Mother asked me to.  Her last words... thoughts... were of you.  She wanted me to tell you that she loved you and that she would always be a part of you.  You have to live –not just for yourself but for her, too."

"That was her way of telling me not to give in to my grief," Tommy murmured, his throat closing up with his emotions.

"It is good advice," Jamie concurred.  Then, he reached into his concealing coat and removed a black box which he handed to Tommy.

The former Ranger studied the exquisite piece of craftsmanship carefully.  The small chest was made of ebony wood, highly polished and elaborately carved.  The lid was inlaid with a silver amulet surrounded by a mosaic of stones in all the colors of the Rangers.

"This contains some items Mother wished you could have," Jamie explained.  "As well as a few things I felt you should have."  His wristband began beeping again, more urgently.

"I wish you didn't have to go," Tommy sighed, knowing that for his son, duty called.

"As do I," Jamie said, his words heavily laced with regret.  "It is likely that I will never again visit Earth.  Much time has passed on Threa, and it requires much energy to traverse the dimensions, let alone maintain my shield.  Perhaps someday a way can be found....

"Should you ever find a way to come to Threa, be sure to carry with you the talisman embedded in this box.  It was Mother's personal signet –the mark of the Great Imbera.  All will know by this that you are an emissary to the Imbera, and you will be made welcome."

"T-thank you," Tommy faltered.  The thought of saying good-bye after finally getting to meet his son... of being parted from his last link to Kimberly... was intolerable.

"Father...." Jamie began as if to say something further, but no words were forthcoming.  Instead, both men shared an embrace that said it all for them.

Then, the Imbera of Threa stepped back.  Touching the control on his wristband, he activated his teleportation signal and vanished in a flash of white light.

Tommy stood there staring numbly at the spot where his son had stood.  He clutched the priceless treasure chest to him.

"Tommy?"

Startled from his revery by the gentle voice, he turned to find Kat and Jason coming towards him, their expressions laced with puzzlement and concern.

"Who was that you were with?" Jason asked.

"You guys saw him leave?"  At their confirming nods, Tommy wanted to swear.  He and Jamie shouldn't have been so careless.  What if it hadn't been his friends –fellow Rangers– who had witnessed Jamie teleporting out?  "Did anyone else...?"

"Your parents saw you talking to him, but they were too far way to see the teleportation beam," Kat assured him.  Noting Tommy's melancholy expression, she reiterated, "Who was he?"

While both his friends knew about his helping the Imbera have a child, neither knew her identity.  He simply, proudly, answered, "My son."


	2. Chatper 2

Disclaimers:  see chapter one.  

Note:  Thanks to all who commented on chapter one.  Some folks got the impression that that was it.  I guess I'll need to put the tbc at the end. : )  This one is being posted in progress, so there may be some delays in posting some chapters.  CR

From The Ashes Chapter 2 

Tommy awoke, unable to sleep, the remnants of his strange dream still lingering.

_Danger... he's back...must warn...._

It was a voice, nothing more, calling as if from a great distance.  The warning, if that's what it truly was, seemed urgent, but what sort of danger?  Who was back?  Who was being warned?  Whose voice was it?  Tommy had no answers, but he knew the vision had to be important because it had been reoccurring for the past several nights.  The problem was, Tommy had no one to turn to in order to discuss it.

His Ranger days were over, and the Rangers who had followed him had retired following  Zordon's death.  He supposed he could try contacting his friends, but in the years following their retirement, they had all gone their separate ways -‑college, careers, families-‑ sadly, even he and Katherine.

It had been time and distance and the need to follow their hearts that had split them apart.  Tommy couldn't deny that he had enjoyed his time with the lovely blonde.  She had healed the hole in his soul that Kimberly's death had created.  Buoyed by the fact that Kim had given him her blessing, he had been thinking of a life together with Kat, but that was not to be.  Her dreams had taken her from the ballet academy in London back to Australia and a ballet company there.  He knew how much she'd always missed her homeland and couldn't begrudge her her happiness to go back.

His thoughts drifted to Jason next.  His best friend still longed to open his own martial arts school, but there was college; then, when Mr. Scott had his heart attack, Jason had to help out with the family business.  He still taught part time, though, at Rocky's dojo.  They made time for each other whenever Tommy was in town, but these days, that wasn't very often.

Adam and Tanya had married and moved east to follow the former Yellow Ranger's promising singing career.  Zack and Trini had followed their various careers, and Aisha was still working with the animals in Africa.  However, even if he talked to any of his "earthbound" friends, he knew they could do nothing but listen.

If he could get a hold of Billy... but last he'd heard, the original Blue Ranger was still on Aquitar.  They had learned that, in an odd twist of fate, the scientific genius had become Earth's unofficial ambassador to the intergalactic community.  Tommy just bet Billy _loved_ being a politician.

Perhaps he could contact the Aquitian Rangers....

All of which left Tommy in his motel room, unable to sleep, with practice laps at the speedway to run for his uncle.  He'd been driving for John ever since graduation and enjoyed it immensely, but he was beginning to feel the pangs of discontent.  Maybe it was time for him to consider returning to his first love: martial arts.  But that decision would keep for another day; he had a race to qualify for, and being bleary‑eyed wouldn't do.

He reached for the ebony box sitting on the night stand.  The chest went everywhere with him; it was the gift Kimberly had so wanted to give him and his son had crossed a dimension to deliver to him.  Looking over the treasures Kim had bequeathed to him never failed to bring him a sense of peace.  Things she had always wanted him to have, Jamie had said....  There were items from her life on earth ‑‑her diary, her class ring, pictures and other keepsakes from their relationship-‑ and mementos from her life on Threa.

First, to his great relief, was an amulet duplicating the crest inlaid on the box lid. (He hated the thought of ruining the precious container in any way, even to remove the talisman.)  He had taken to wearing the medallion as a good luck charm.  The design of the circular piece was that of an intertwined falcon and crane in flight ‑-images identical to the ones emblazoned on their old Ninja Power Coins.  On the rim of the disk were tiny engravings of their other Ranger totems: Pterodactyl, Dragon, Firebird and Tiger.  He recalled that this was the emblem he had seen on the breastplate of Kimberly's Imbera armor.

In addition to her signet, Kimberly had enclosed the Threan equivalent of photographs; although the framed images were three dimensional instead of two dimensional.  Pictures of her and Jamie, her teammates and friends.... Tommy studied the group photo of the Threan Rangers.  It reminded him of many of the group shots Kim had taken of their circle of friends over the years.  Through reading Kimberly's journal and recalling what she had said during her brief return home, Tommy was quite familiar with the team.  His gaze drifted over the assembled Rangers.

Sahr, the Blue Ranger, was a tall, slender, pale woman with fiery red hair and luminous blue eyes.  Her lifebond Rhee, the Yellow Ranger, had her height and build but had a mane of curly blond hair and forest green eyes.  These were the two Kim had been closest to, just as she'd been close to Billy and Trini.  The Red Ranger, Dav, was a big, brawny fellow who reminded Tommy of Jason, though his features were much more rounded and his coloring not as dark.  The Green Ranger was a petite (for a Threan) dark skinned beauty with snow white hair; J'Ust had her arm around Kim's successor as the Pink Ranger.   Brek, with her straight, blue‑black hair and golden complexion reminded Tommy of  Trini.  Kim was also in the picture.  Next to the tall, willowy Threans, their White Ranger looked more like a child than a leader/mentor.

The first time he'd seen the photos, he'd been startled to discover that the Threans were what humans would call elves.  Physically, they tended towards tall and slender, though the team represented a variety of body types, but they all possessed the wide, almond‑shaped eyes and tapered, wing‑like ears.  And, just as in some of the fairy stories he'd heard of elves, Threans were extremely long lived.  According to Kim's notes, the average life span was around six or seven hundred years old, but it was not unheard of for a Threan to live to be a thousand.

Kim had devoted quite a bit of space in her journal to the various aspects of Threan life and culture, and while he'd found her observations quite interesting, he'd been more intrigued by the memory crystal.  Her notes explained that the multi‑faceted stone contained a lifetime of memories; she had begun recording her thoughts and feelings shortly after her return from earth.  It was through this crystal that he shared in her pregnancy, witnessed the birth of their son and watched him grow up.  The recordings ceased with the birth of their first grandchild.  It was a gift without price.

Along with Kimberly's gifts were a few of Jamie's.  Of the items his son had included, one was a personal shield generator.  According to the enclosed note, the quarter‑sized chip would fasten onto his communicator and would draw power from the Morphin' Grid.  Once activated, it would enable him to exist on Threa without the need for genetic restructuring. _"If only our science could have created such a shield for mother when Atir first brought her to Threa, perhaps then you two would not have been separated forever."_

While he doubted he'd ever have the opportunity to visit his son's homeworld, Tommy did affix the device to his wristband and then placed his retired communicator in the black box with the signet medallion.

But Jamie's greatest give to him was the item he now removed from the chest.  It consisted of a wooden base with brass fittings and ornamentation; set in the cup of the metal prongs was a clear glass ball.  However, at the slightest touch, a hologram flickered to life within the orb.  The ever‑changing image was that of Kimberly in all her various aspects from the bright‑eyed young woman he had fallen in love with to the armored warrior/leader to mother and grandmother.  Even more than seeing his beloved, anyone who touched the ball could feel the essence of Kimberly's spirit.

Tommy's hand rested on the fantastic, fragile globe, and he found himself awash in Kim's warmth and love once again.  It made him feel close to her, bringing him the peace he had been hoping for.

But that peace was abruptly shattered as the voice from his dream intruded upon his consciousness.

_"Tommy... warn Jamie...Narzod lives!"_

He nearly dropped the precious orb.  The voice sounded like Kim's!

* * * 

How Tommy managed to compete in the race, let alone qualify for it, was beyond him.  The days since he identified the voice in his dreams had passed in a blur.  At the moment, though, the only thing that mattered was that he was back home in Angel Grove and on his way across the desert to the remains of the Power Chamber.  If the answers to his troubled questions could be found, they would be found there.

How could his dream‑voice possibly be Kim's?  She'd been dead for a couple of years ‑-on earth (a couple of centuries on Threa).  Not only had she been dead for some time, she had died in another dimension.  Jamie had held her as she died; he had felt her consciousness flicker out. Was it some kind of trick?  Could it be some sort of mental echo?  Admittedly, he didn't know a thing about the workings of telepathy, but the cry seemed fresh --recent, and the sense of urgency behind it was undeniable.

He found an alcove near the base of the rocky hill where the Power Chamber had once stood, and he parked his truck.  He'd have to make the rest of  his trek on foot.  So it was that the better part of an hour later, Tommy found himself within the dark and blessedly cool confines of the Rangers' old headquarters.

This wasn't his first trip to the remains since the stronghold had fallen; it made his heart sick to see the devastation anew.  He had forgotten how bad Divatox's final assault had been.  As he picked his way through the debris, he realized that it was highly unlikely that any of the computers were still functional.

"Damn," he swore, pounding a fist down on a ruined console.  What had he been thinking?  Yet, the instinct to come here had been nigh irresistible.  "Man, Zordon, I wish you were still here."

He hadn't come all this way for nothing, so he began his search to see if there was anything life that could help him.

* * *

Several hours later, Tommy sat down dejectedly, running a hand through his fly‑away hair in frustration, surrendering to the obvious: the Power Chamber was truly dead.  He'd even gone down to the lowest levels in search of something ‑-anything-‑ of value.

_What did you expect?_ he berated himself.  _Even if you'd found a functioning computer, you wouldn't have known what to do with it.  That was Billy's department, not yours._

He wasn't _totally_ ignorant when it came to the computers in the Power Chamber.  He'd been able to operate the monitors, defense systems, data banks and so forth, but it had been a functional knowledge, rudimentary at best.  He could never coax the machines into doing the things Billy could.

As he sat there pondering his next step, he became aware of a low humming sound, reminiscent of the teleportation beam.  He scrambled to his feet, old battle instincts kicking in, and prepared to meet his visitor.  But when the bluish‑gray light faded, a broad grin spread across his face.

"Billy!"

The former Blue Ranger blinked in surprise at the welcome.

"Tommy?"

"Man, it's good to see you," Tommy said and wrapped his old friend in an effusive hug.  The blond, green‑eyed Ranger looked much the same as he had before his bout with accelerated aging.  "Looks like Aquitar agrees with you."

"Actually, I haven't been on Aquitar for some time," was his former teammate's response.  "Of late, I've made my home on Eltar."

"Zordon's homeworld?  Awesome!  But what brings you back here?"

"I could ask the same of you," Billy replied.  "When I learned that Zordon was dead and the Power Chamber was destroyed, I came back to see if anything was salvageable, and I set up a security system to keep tabs on all activity.  You set off just about every alarm I installed.  I take it this is more than just a walk down memory lane."

"To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what it is," Tommy sighed, and he proceeded to tell Billy about the voice.

Billy's brow furrowed with consternation.  "Very odd that _you_ should be receiving the call."

"Why do you say that?"

"I've heard from the Rangers of Aquitar about this cry, and they've heard similar reports from other telepathic species.  Humans of the Sol III variety are notoriously unreceptive to telepathic communication.  However, since the call does seem to be resonating through the Morphin' Grid, that could explain why it's reached you, but I've not heard it."

"Does anyone know what it means?" Tommy asked anxiously.

"No.  No one knows who this Jamie is or has ever heard of Norzod."

"We've heard of Norzod, Billy," Tommy reminded him, and to his companion's perplexed expression, he added, "Do you remember the Imbera of Threa?"

It took him a moment, but the one‑time Blue Ranger finally placed the name.  "Zordon's equivalent from the other‑dimensional earth."

"Uh huh.  Norzod was Zordon's evil twin; he was sort of Zedd's counterpart."

"Then who is Jamie?"

"My and the Imbera's son."  And he related in brief the history that had been imparted to him.  Finally, he summarized, "Apparently, Norzod didn't stay dead, and we're being asked to get word to Jamie."

"It's plausible, but would Jamie still be alive?  He's not a Threan, and genetic reconstruction can only do so much."

"Even if he's not, his children or grandchildren would be," Tommy insisted, shying away from the thought that the son he'd known for less than an hour was gone, too.

"You say the last call you received was addressed to you specifically?  That would suggest that the sender knows of your relationship to Jamie.  Have you any idea how many people would know?"

"On Earth, only you, the other Zeo Rangers and Jason knew that I'd agreed to help the Imbera.  As far as on Threa goes, it's hard telling, but I had the impression that it wasn't exactly common knowledge."  He felt a little pang at not telling Billy who the Imbera was; what could it hurt now that the clone was dead?

"Tommy, do you know who the Imbera really was?" Billy asked suddenly, if a trifle awkwardly.

Tommy gaped at him in disbelief.  "You knew?"

"I saw the medical scans.  I knew, but Zordon told me that if Kim wished the truth to be known, she would tell us.  I take it she told you when she found out you were to be the donor."

Apparently, Billy had no idea he'd been more than just a donor, to Tommy's relief.  What he and Kimberly has shared was something special, and he really didn't want to share with anyone else.

"Yes, she told me," Tommy confirmed.  "Is there any way the cry could have come from Kim?"

"As Imbera, she wielded a vast amount of power; as I understood it, she was plugged directly into the Morphin's Grid, and all the power of the Morphin' Grid wasn't able to save Zordon.  I imagine the same held true for Kimberly."

"You can't blame me for hoping against hope."

"No, I suppose I can't," Billy concurred with a rueful smile.

"Is there any way to get me to Threa?" the once‑Red Ranger asked.  "We can speculate all we want here, but whatever the danger is, it's headed for Threa ‑-headed for whatever family I have there.  Jamie gave me the means to survive on his homeworld; I just need a lift."

Billy glanced around, surveying the chamber doubtfully.  "I won't know until I see what's left of the teleportation systems, but even if the system is functional, we have no coordinates to which to send you.  A blind teleport across town is dangerous enough, but we're talking about breaching the fabric of our universe.  Obviously it can be done since Kimberly and Jamie accomplished the feat, but you're not an Imbera."

Tommy pondered the matter for a moment; then a grin stole across his face as he reached for his backpack.  "I think I have something where we can find an answer."

And he pulled out his black treasure chest.

_* * *_

It was nightfall by the time Billy was able to cobble together enough parts and charged power cells to jury rig the teleporters.  While he'd been immersed in the inner workings of the hardware, Tommy had run out for dinner.  While they ate their Chinese take‑out, they poured over Kim's journal, the memory crystal, Jamie's notes... anything to give them a clue.

"I'm impressed with the details of Kim's notes," Billy murmured.  "I'd have never attributed such meticulous record keeping to her; her high school habits were not indicative of such."

"But for all the detail, we still have no coordinates," Tommy said glumly.  "We have no idea where their command center is ‑-north, south, east west?  Land or sea?  Above or below ground?  For all we know, it could be on the moon."

"However, there is enough power for me to attempt a visual scan; perhaps we can find something that way," Billy suggested, mindful of Tommy's mounting frustration and despair.

"I thought you'd once said visual scanning was all but impossible since earth and Threa occupy the same space but on different wavelengths."

"The quality of the scans will be poor at best, but it's better than nothing."

Tommy wasn't about to argue with that.

"May I see some of those photos again?  If I can feed a specific image into the computer, give it a target to search for, it would increase our odds."

"The statue!" Tommy yelped excitedly.  "Why didn't I think of it sooner!"

"What statue?  I don't recall seeing any statue in the pictures."

"It won't be in any of the pictures because it wasn't built when Kim was still alive.  Jamie wrote to me about it."  He procured the message from his son, scanning the contents until he found the line he wanted.  He read, " _'The image of mother in her armor used in the hologram is the one they are going to use for the statue they wish to erect of her.  I know she requires no monuments, but it means so much to the people she protected.  Never before had they had such a hero.'_

"That's it, Billy!  We can program the image of the statue into the computers and have them search for it."

Before the former Blue Ranger could ask his inevitable question, Tommy handed him the globe housing Kimberly's images.  Billy's eyes went wide when he realized what he was holding.

"Do you know what this is?  It's a holo‑empathic crystal.  You could almost buy an entire planet with this," he murmured in awe.  "I say almost because the crystal has been impressed with Kim's personality, but still...!"

"You could offer me the universe and I still wouldn't part with it," Tommy said solemnly.  Then he shook of his sober demeanor and returned to the matter at hand.  Activating the orb, he let the images cycle through until.... "The last image... there."

The figure of Kim dressed in full armor, her cape trailing at her feet and her hand on her sheathed sword flickered in the crystalline ball.

"Hmm... is there any way to freeze the hologram so I can scan it in?" Billy question as the cycle continued unabated.

"If you take your hand off the globe but leave your thumb over this metal plate...." Tommy demonstrated.

"Perfect.  Let's see if the computers will cooperate now."

Fortunately, they did, and with a concrete target to locate, it didn't take long.  Though the picture flickered in and out and was blurred by static, they had their target destination.

"There it is!" Tommy exclaimed, "In the courtyard of that...."  He let out a low whistle of appreciation for the collection of grand edifices looming in the background.  "I wonder who lives there."

"In a way, the layout of the buildings reminds me of a college campus."

"Could that be the training facility that Kim said she started?"

"It's possible, but there's no guarantee that the Threans erected the statue at her academy.  This may be a town square."

Tommy frowned as the picture winked in and out.  "Is this good enough for a teleportation lock?"

"We're in luck; it is," Billy reported.

"Great!"  With that enthusiastic exclamation, Tommy began collecting his gear for the journey.  When everything was settled once again in his back pack, he fastened his old communicator about his wrist, experiencing the strangest sense that he'd come home after a long absence when he did so.  He anxiously fingered the disk Jamie and left for him.  "Do I activate my shield here or on Threa?"

"I'd activate it here; that way the generator will know which conditions it needs to sustain to support you."

Tommy flicked the dial, and for a moment, the world became a blurr.  When his vision cleared, he looked down at himself.  He didn't feel any different, nor could he detect any sign of the force field.

"Remarkable," Billy murmured in appreciation.

"Is it on?"

"Yes, but it lays so close to your skin as to appear invisible."

"I think it's under my clothes," Tommy marveled.

"When you get back, I would love the opportunity to examine this little generator.  In my time off planet, I've never seen anything quite like it."

"As long as you can put it back together," Tommy agreed.  "What will you be doing while I'm gone?"

"Calling in some favors to get some more reliable equipment in here with which to bring you back.  I'll probably drain every power cell dry punching your signal through."

Tommy nodded, understanding the unspoken odds for his success.  "Wish me luck."

Billy pressed the control, and in spite of the cracking and popping of shorting out wires and the smoke billowing from burning circuitry, Tommy vanished in a shower of red and green-streaked white light.

TBC….


	3. Chapter 3

From the Ashes

Chapter 3

Tommy landed hard –and rather ignominiously, flat on his face--  but was grateful to have landed at all.  That had been the longest, roughest teleport he had ever experienced.  Although teleports were virtually instantaneous, he'd actually had time to wonder if he was going to make it through.

He sat up and began brushing off the dust as he surveyed his surroundings.  He was grateful for the coat he had stuffed in his backpack, for it was much cooler than he had expected.  He quickly shrugged on his bomber jacket.  From the terrain that rose before him, he had to guess at being in the mountains, quite possibly a rather high elevation.  He couldn't be certain if the thin air was due to elevation or if it was a normal condition on Threa.  From what he could see of the trees, they didn't seem to be any different than Earth trees –at least in appearance— but the sky seemed a lot greener, probably because there was more land than water.  However, as long as his telltale light on his shield generator was steady, he had no worries about being able to breathe.

Next, he turned his attention to his immediate vicinity.   He seemed to be within the walls of a courtyard of sorts.  The plot of ground on which he had landed was grassy and ringed with flowers; it was also cast in shadow.  He turned to see what lay behind him, and a lump formed in his throat.

It was, indeed, the statue of Kimberly dressed as the Imbera, just as she had been in the hologram.  She looked every inch the warrior/leader that she had become, and that he had always known she could be.  Her helmet was in place so the statue could not convey her compassion, her spirit, her heart.  Still, it made his heart full to see this tribute to the vibrant young woman he loved.

He rested his hand against the smooth, polished stone.  He could feel how much love and care had gone into shaping this monument.  It was as if the artist had left a piece of himself in the stone, giving inanimate rock a semblance of life.

At last his eyes fell upon the plaque at the base of the statue.  The language was unlike anything he had ever seen before, looking more like decorative squiggles than written words.  However, in smaller glyphs near the bottom of the placard was an inscription he could make out, presumably an English translation:

The Great Imbera

She sacrificed home, family, friends

And lifebond for our future

_Not to mention her life, too,_ Tommy added silently, but then, to Kimberly, those she cared for meant more to her than anything else.

"I'm so proud of you, Beautiful," he murmured, his eyes misting up.  He took a moment to collect himself; he needed to get moving and see if he could find Jamie –which wasn't going to be easy.  He had no idea where to go.  He had no back up.  No support from Billy… he didn't even know how long he had to complete his mission.  Jamie had never indicated how long the shield batteries would last. 

When Tommy turned, he was stunned to find himself surrounded by a throng of onlookers.  He'd been so wrapped up in his thoughts of Kimberly that he hadn't heard anyone approach.  That was major carelessness on his part, but how had such a large gathering of people managed to be so silent?  Judging from their body language, several appeared as if they were in conversation.  Then he recalled Kimberly's notes: most Threans had some sort of telepathic ability and human minds were closed to them.  So much for them being able to "read" his non-hostile intent.

As he considered his course of action, he observed that there were several Threans in uniforms standing just on the perimeter of the green island upon which he stood; however, they gave every indication of wanting to cross the barrier but were unable.

_Is this hallowed ground?  Am I safe here?_ Tommy mused, then he considered another option.  _Have I totally pissed them off because I'm standing here?_  

He studied the uniformed individuals –security personnel, he decided.  Both males and females were at least a head taller –if not more— than he was, but they were reed slender, looking as if a good strong wind would break them in two.  In all probability, he could take them if need be, but then a little voice inside nagged him, _Don't underestimate them; they're probably tougher than they look, and you're out of practice.  Besides, you want them to help you._

Tommy decided to approach them, moving closer, hands raised, palms facing out in a gesture meant to convey peace.  However, he made certain to remain within the grassy circle beyond arm's length just in case.

"Please, I mean you no harm; I need your help," he began.

The guards looked at each other in confusion, whispering a few words between themselves, and Tommy realized that he didn't understand them any more than they understood him.  _Duh! Couldn't you tell by that gibberish on the plaque that you wouldn't be able to understand them?_

But somebody on Threa had to understand English.  After all, Jamie spoke it, and when Kim first came to Threa she couldn't have spoken their language.  And if no one spoke English here, why then would they have included the English inscription on Kim's statue?

Suddenly, he had an idea.  Gesturing to the uniformed individuals to wait a moment, he hurried back to the statue's pedestal, a move which caused the crowd of onlookers to gasp and tense.  He indicated the lines of incomprehensible squiggles.

"Threa," he said and pointed to the crowd.  Next he pointed to the lines he could read and tapped his chest.  "English… the Great Imbera's language."

He was beginning to think he hadn't gotten through to them when one of the women's faces lit up with comprehension.  Tommy flashed her a grateful smile, and he could almost sense the request being passed mind to mind through the gathering.

At last, a young woman with flame red hair, leaf green eyes and delicate elfin features stepped forward.  Though short by Threan standards, she could look Tommy in the eyes.  Age-wise, she didn't appear to be much older than he.  As he studied her, he couldn't shake the feeling that he'd seen her somewhere before.

"You speak the Great Imbera's tongue?" the girl asked, her accent very lyrical.

"I do," he answered.  He noted that she had not crossed the ring of flowers.  "Am I trespassing on holy ground or something?  If so, I apologize.  It's where I landed when I teleported in, and…."

"It is not consecrated to the First Ancestors in the way you mean, but none of our people would stand within the circle out of respect to the Great Imbera," the young woman explained.  "Many saw you show respect to the Great Imbera; do you revere her as well?"

"That's one way of putting it."

His interpreter relayed something to the group that seemed to put them at ease.

"You are of the Imbera's people –human," the young woman noted.  "How is it that you know of the Imbera and our world?  The Imbera promised that save for a select, trusted few, none of her world would know of us."

"I'm one of those select few," Tommy explained.  "My name is Tommy Oliver, and...."

The rest of his introduction died on his lips.  The already-wide, angular eyes widened further, and all the color drained from the girl's face.  She swayed on her feet, and Tommy thought she might faint.

"By my Ancestors!" she gasped in a tiny voice.  "The Progenitor!"

"Excuse me?"

"Lifebond to the Great Imbera; sire of the First Born," she babbled on.

"First Born...?  You mean Jamie!" Tommy realized.  "Do you know my son?  Is he still alive?  Can you take me to him?  It's important... I have to tell him...."

His questions came out in rapid-fire pace, so anxious was he to find his son.  However, as he made his requests, he could see the awe fade from the Threan's face to be replaced by cautious reserve.  He wondered why.

"Have you the signet?" she asked suddenly.

He was a little taken aback by the request, not expecting anyone other than Jamie to know he had Kim's amulet, but then, Jamie had said it would ease his passage.  Without hesitation, he produced the medallion from under his shirt.

At this, the girl stepped forward onto the grass and came close enough to inspect the disk.

"The falcon and the crane –as my grandmother told us...." she murmured, again with reverence.  Then, she turned to the crowd and addressed them, after which they dispersed, security officials as well.

"I don't get it," Tommy muttered, scratching his head.  "What did you tell them?"

"That you were the White Ranger of Earth, bearing the Imbera's seal; it is not ours to question, merely to render aid," she explained.

Tommy was about to correct her and tell her that he hadn't been the White Ranger in sometime –that he was a retired Ranger– but Kim had only known him as the White Ranger, his being Red Ranger when they created Jamie nothwithstanding.  As he recalled, at the time, she had flat out told him that he looked better in white.

"I don't mean to be rude, but you look a little young to claim that kind of authority," he said. Although, how old had he been when first he had been given the Green Ranger Powers?

"I am most likely twice your age," the young woman responded with a laugh.  "And what of you, White Ranger of Earth?  Are you not young to be wearing the mantle of leadership?"  She did not wait for him to reply.  "To answer your observation, yes, I am young for a Threan.  Officially, I do not have the power to order the security forces about; I am only a cadet in training.  However, I am of the House of Sahr, and that carries with it a great deal of authority."

Sahr... the name clicked in Tommy's memory at last.  "Sahr –as in the Blue Ranger who severed with Kim –I mean, the Great Imbera?"

"Yes, she was my mother's grandmother.  I am Lris," she introduced herself.  "Come.... Oh, pardon me, but I am not certain how to address you."

"Just call me Tommy," he recommended.

Lris gave a nod as if the response was not unexpected.  "The Great Imbera always preferred those she considered family to address her as 'Kim.'  The same for the First Born.  All but the great families have forgotten they possessed any other names than their titles, and you are all but a figure of myth, save to the families and the elite of the Ranger Corps."

"Is that why you didn't tell the crowd _exactly_ who I was?" he wondered.

"Correct.  It would only have created delays, and your request to see the First Born sounded urgent."

"It is," he assured her gravely.  "I take it Jamie is still alive?"

"Why would he not be?" she asked as if the question was absurd.

"Humans don't have very long life spans, for starters."

"Ah, but the First Born has known the touch of the finest healers and shapers on Threa.  There is little they cannot do."  Then, Lris sobered.  "The problem is not so much is the First Born alive as it is 'is he available?'  It is probably easier for you to gain an audience with the Imbera than with your son."

"Why's that?" Tommy asked as the red head directed him across the court yard towards the impressive array of buildings ahead of them.

"Simply because he is considered the last survivor of the Great War," she explained.  "Threans put much more faith in living memory than the recorded word.  Other elders survive from that time, but the First Born was there at the last battle.  Though their kin live on, the First Born is the only one who can speak of what befell the heads of the Great Families as Rangers.  He was there when they died; he was the only one to receive their dying thoughts.

"Of course, there is also the matter of the First Born's mother...."

"Speaking of his mother," Tommy interrupted, looking around in awe, "I know Kim said she instituted a training center for future Rangers, but I can't imagine that this is what she intended."

He gestured to the collection of buildings around them.  It reminded him more of a college campus with a town growing up around it to serve it's needs.  Rangering had always been something conducted in secret from the general public.

"It was not.  In the Great Imbera's day, there had only been the central complex; she dubbed it the Command Center.  Over the turns of the seasons, it has grown to become a seat of learning in addition to a facility for training Rangers.

"For example, I am here as a cadet working on perfecting my healing abilities, not necessarily to become one of the elite recruits –a potential Ranger.  Most of the cadets here will never serve as Rangers; they leave to become healers, shapers, artisans, teachers or any number of other pursuits.

"The Academy is very selective when it comes to accepting candidates; even being a member of one of the Great Families is not a guarantee.  Ability alone is not enough, either; is even more than that –something deep inside your heart and soul.  It is something only the Imbera is able to see."

"Who is the present Imbera?" Tommy queried as they passed beyond the 'town' and made their way towards what had to be the most nondescript edifice he had yet seen.  Unlike the architecture of the rest of the complex, the obsidian building was quite plain, yet it filled Tommy with a sense of belonging.  Then it hit him all at once: this Command Center was designed to resemble the one Kimberly knew from Earth.

"The general populace does not know when a new Imbera takes over.  Save for Kimberly's death, they have only ever known one Imbera."

"But you're not the general populace," Tommy pointed out teasingly.  "According to Kim and Jamie, they considered Sahr and Rhee's family as their own."

Lris smiled.  "The First Born retired when his lifebond Ayn died.  His youngest daughter Twyn took up the mantle next.  Injury forced her to retire much sooner than she would have liked.  Now, her son Jax wields the power."

His great-grandson, Tommy realized.  He found himself both grateful and concerned that Lris was so forthcoming with personal information about the Imbera's family.  He wouldn't have been.  Perhaps that was why she asked to see the signet.

"How come you still refer to Jamie as "First Born,' if your family knows them all by name?" he asked, curious about her formality.

"I have not been given leave to call him anything else," she said.  "Were you not instructed to shield your identity?  It is much the same in this matter."

The two came to stand before the entrance to the Command Center.  Tommy felt a shiver of remembrance shudder through him.

"Tommy?" Lris questioned, wondering at his hesitation.

"It's like coming home in a way," he murmured.

"And like your former headquarters, only those who have touched the Power may enter," she explained.  "This is one door you must open, for I cannot."

Tommy nodded, but he was loath to leave his guide behind.  Knowing that they had brought other non-Rangers into the Command Center on occasion, he tugged Lris after him as he passed through the energy field.


	4. Chapter 4

From The Ashes

Chapter 4

"What have you done!" Lris exclaimed as she recovered from the shock of passing through the Command Center's portal.

"Brought you with me," Tommy offered with a careless shrug.  "I didn't want to leave my guide behind."

"But I have never been to the Command Center before; the security field is not programmed with my bio-signature.  It should have screened me out."

"Maybe it let you in because you're with me," Tommy explained, but privately he had to wonder how _he_ even got in.  Kim couldn't have had the field programed for his bio-signature; she didn't have it unless Zordon had given it to her with the other files she borrowed.  That, or the system recognized his prior connection to the Morphin' Grid.

"Perhaps you are correct," Lris sighed.  "I would have thought, though, that my presence would have triggered some sort of alarm."

Tommy was wondering about that, too.  They always knew when someone without the Power was in the Command Center --unless the security system had been tampered with.

"Maybe the system recognized you as a descendant of Sahr and Rhee," he offered weakly.  He was beginning to have a bad feeling about this.

"Perhaps.  Rhee _was_ one of the designers of the stronghold," the girl added proudly.

With a nod, Tommy glanced about the dimly lit entryway.  "So, where to from here?"

"I am not certain...."

_Dunce!  She just told you she'd never been here before.  You probably know your way around here as well as you did back home, if this has the same layout._

Of course, he was known to get lost while accompanying Billy to some of the lesser frequented areas of the Command Center.

"... I should bring you before the Imbera and the Rangers," Lris continued, heedless of Tommy's woolgathering, "but we shall do that if we cannot gain access to the First Born any other way."

Unaccountably, she blushed, somewhat sheepishly, which prompted Tommy to prod her with a questioning, "Oh?"

"I have never been introduced to the First Born...." she began, squirming like Kim would whenever she was embarrassed.  However, it did not occur to Lris to prevaricate.  "I am curious... I hear the First Born is very attractive."

Tommy, wisely, bit back his laugh at a school girl's crush for a 'superstar.' 

 "Don't worry; I don't think he bites," he teased instead, and he did laugh when she didn't get the joke.

*

It seemed like hours later when the pair finally emerged from the dark halls of the lowest level of the headquarters.  As per Tommy usual, he had taken a few wrong turns.  _That's what I get for trusting my memory!_  The two found themselves at the foot of a small suspension bridge across a river gorge which led to a verdant pasture and heavy woods beyond.

"Finally!" Tommy exclaimed, his tone a trifle gruff, his impatience getting the better of him.

"My apologies, Tommy; my memories of my family's tales of the Command Center were quite vague," Lris apologized.

"I didn't exactly recall the layout of my Command Center too well, either," Tommy soothed her.  He wasn't upset with the cadet but rather with the Rangers.  Not once in their aimless wanderings had anyone challenged them --living or mechanical.  They had roamed freely in areas they would never have been allowed access to in Zordon's old fortress.  The security breach made him extremely edgy.  Of course, he knew something the Rangers did not, which made it all the more imperative that he reach Jamie.

"Tell me something, if you can," he began as they started across the bridge.  "When was the last time Threa was threatened by an enemy like Norzod?  How long have you had peace?"

"Perhaps hundreds of turns of the seasons --longer than my lifetime," Lris responded, "but no threat has ever been as grave as that of Norzod.  Ondom and Xotavid were nothing compared to him."

"So Jax has yet to face an attempt to conquer Threa," Tommy realized.

"Neither, I believe, have any of his teammates," Lris continued.  "Just as no one knows about the changing of the Imbera, so the changing of the Rangers goes unremarked save if one dies in battle.  Each Imbera has selected his or her own team.  They may choose to keep members of the current team, as Twyn did upon replacing her father, or they may select all new ones."

This was not good news.  An untried team of Rangers and a rookie Imbera.  If he were a bad guy, this would be the perfect time to make a comeback.

These troubled thoughts kept him occupied as they made their way through the lush foliage and vast grounds to the sprawling complex of interconnected wings making up the private residence of the Imbera.

"Something tells me Kimberly never lived here," Tommy murmured, awe momentarily supplanting his misgivings.  If she had, she would have written about it in her journal.  The place was fantastic!  There wasn't any one architectural style to the conglomeration of low, single story buildings, and yet they seemed to flow together harmoniously as a living entity.

"The shapers labored long over this abode, each generation adding their own touches to their home," Lris said proudly.  "Both wood and rock shapers worked on this dwelling; from above, it is indistinguishable from the rest of the vale.  I haven=t been here since I was a child, so I hope I remember...."

The two stepped through the "front' door, and Tommy was astonished to see cold hard technology amid the living walls.  They also encountered their first sentry.

The man not only had height, but bulk as well, for a Threan.  His hair and eyes were dark, though shot through with silver streaks.  Tommy took that to mean he was an older elf.  His uniform was form-fitting black with a red sash and badge of office.  He reminded Tommy a bit of Jason.

The guard held up his hand, signaling them to stop, and barked out question in a surprisingly deep voice for such a musical tongue.

"He asks our names and our purpose," Lris translated.

"What and how much do we tell him?" Tommy wondered.

"The truth --and all of it.  He wears the markings of an empath; he would know if we were lying," she said.  "Do not worry; if he does not speak the Great Imbera's tongue, he wears a translator."

"I am trained of the elite, Blue Cadet," the sentry interjected with an affronted sniff.  Only the elite were taught the Great Imbera's language, which made him eye the newcomers all the more suspiciously.

"I am Lris, Blue Cadet and healer from the House of Sahr," the elf maiden announced with a touch of haughtiness to her tone.  "I am here to see the First Born."

The guard consulted his data pad.  "Lady Lris," he began, a touch more deferentially, "Your identity has been confirmed, and though you personally have not been cleared to see the First Born, those of the House of Sahr are always welcome."

"I have never had to 'pull rank' before," Lris told Tommy in a conspiratorial whisper.  "I never realized it would work."

"And what of your companion?" the sentry continued.

Lris gave Tommy a mischievous look which seemed to say, _Lay it on thick!_

"I'm Tommy Oliver, White Ranger of Earth, Progenitor of the First Born," he declared, managing not to crack a smile at the ridiculous sounding pronouncement.  He also opted not to update his color; to date, he was still the only White Ranger Earth ever had.   "I'm here to see my son."

For a moment, the man regarded him dumbfoundedly, and Tommy wondered if the man thought him mad.

"You carry the signet?" the guard gulped out.

"I do."  Tommy produced Kim's badge once more.  If the man looked shocked before, now he appeared positively stunned.

"My lord," the sentry all but stammered, his face ashen; he did not even bother to consult his data pad.  He dropped to one knee and bowed his head respectfully.

Tommy fidgeted uncomfortably at the show of reverence.  To Lris, he hissed, "I'm glad you didn't do _that_ when I first told you who I was.

"I very nearly did," she confessed.

Tommy rolled his eyes.

"What is your will, my lord," the guardsman queried.

"I really need to see my son," Tommy sighed, still embarrassed by the display of obeisance.  "Will you take us to him?"

"I would be honored," the man said quickly.  "Allow me to notify him of your arrival...."

"Don't," Tommy checked him suddenly.  To the man's questioning gaze and arched eyebrow, he smiled sheepishly and shrugged.  "This was an unexpected visit.  I'd kind of like to surprise him."

He hadn't realized until just then how much he looked forward to seeing Jamie's face when he first saw him.

"As you wish.  If you will follow me."

Tommy and Lris fell in behind the sentinel, and he led them through the labyrinthine hallways of the residence.  They made their way in silence; although, Tommy had to wonder if the Threans might be carrying on a telepathic conversation.  He really didn't think they'd be that rude; however, he was willing to bet that Lris had 'said' something to the man privately, because he seemed more at ease now.

"What's your name?" Tommy asked at last, his thoughts never straying far from his concerns for Jamie and the warning he was to deliver.

"Vlar, my lord," was the faltered response, as if the man had not expected to be spoken to and was flattered by the acknowledgment.

"You remind me quite a bit of my best friend back home," Tommy continued conversationally, and his compliment seemed to please the sentry.  "How long have you known my son?"

"I have been honored to serve Jamie --the First Born-- since he selected me to be his Red Ranger."

Tommy smiled at the slip.  "I take it you're also his friend."

"Yes."  Sensing no disapproval, Vlar added, "I have known Jamie since our days as cadets.  It is sometimes... difficult to treat him with the respect others accord him."

At this, Tommy laughed.  "You're probably the only person he can count on to give it to him straight."

"Myself and Beys," Vlar said with a grin.  "She served as Jamie's Pink Ranger; only she has never learned to curb her tongue around visitors."

Tommy could think of another Pink Ranger who also would not hesitate to tell someone what he needed to hear rather than what he wanted.  He was beginning to take quite a liking to the former Red Ranger and was glad his son had found such a friend.

"We are here," the former Ranger announced as he stood before an unprepossessing doorway.  Outwardly, there was no indication that one of the most important people on the planet resided beyond.  Vlar rested his palm against the unadorned mirrored disk in the center of the barrier.  For a moment, the silver metal darkened, displaying a symbol akin to the one that hung around Tommy's neck.  When the surface cleared once more, the portal parted, granting them access.

"Come," Vlar directed, ushering the pair into the spacious circular anteroom.  The ceiling was actually a dome, a window allowing sunlight to pour in.  In between the columns surrounding the room were more windows and doorways.  The views beyond were breathtaking.

The airy chamber made Tommy think of an ancient Roman villa.  The center of the room was sunken in and lined with low couches.  There were also tables and computers in the alcoves and what he took to be an entertainment center.  This was a common living area of sorts.

"Jamie?" Vlar called out, stepping beyond the foyer into the room.

"Vlar?" came a voice that pierced Tommy's heart to the very core.  Though he had heard that voice but on one occasion --for a scant hour-- he knew he'd never forget it.  "I am by the fountain pool."

The trio proceeded across the chamber, and the former Red Ranger led them unerringly to the proper doorway.  The babbling sound of flowing water touched their ears before they found themselves surrounded by cleverly arranged vegetation and intricately orchestrated sprays of water.

The man they sought stood by the edge of a great pool, water splashing upwards in a playful dance from the very center.  He stood poised to move in a stance Tommy recognized from an old kata.

Tommy studied his son, who was much changed from his last sight of him.  Most obviously, his hair bore no trace of the mahogany coloring; it was now completely silver and hung down in a thick braid to his waist.  He was dressed only in a pair of loose trousers that came down to mid-calf.  He looked as physically fit as Tommy himself was.  _Not bad for someone over 300 years old._

Jamie's back was to them as he proceeded with his workout.  _Nice form, _Tommy noted, wishing he could see his son's face.  Would he appear as withered as his own grandfather, or would Jamie seem as ageless as the Threans?

"Are you off duty, Vlar?" Jamie asked as he completed his kata and reached for a towel.  "I hope so; I could use a sparring partner."

"Sorry, Jamie, but I am still on duty," Vlar declined.

"Will I do?" Tommy interjected, unable to keep the smile off his face or out of his voice.

Jamie whirled about in astonishment.

"By my Ancestors!" he gasped, taking a staggering step backwards --which proved to be his undoing.  He lost his footing and toppled into the pool.

"Oh my," Lris murmured, trying to stifle a giggle.  Even Vlar was chuckling, and Tommy had to admit he'd never seen anyone look less dignified than his son did when he emerged, sputtering, from the water.

"T-Tommy?" Jamie stammered, hastening forward.  "Father, is it really you?"

Tommy was too choked to answer, so he nodded, as he hurried forward to meet his son in a fierce hug.

"I shall leave them to their reunion," Vlar informed the young healer.  "The Progenitor was correct; it _was_ worth seeing the expression on Jamie's face."

"I, too, should be going," Lris said.  "I have another class."  However, she remained rooted to the spot, her eyes never straying from the joyous pair just a few yards from where she stood.

"You have hardly changed since last I saw you," Jamie gushed, "save for the waves in your hair and the shadows in your eyes."

"I could say the same about you," Tommy pointed out.

"We have both known great joy and sorrow in our days," Jamie perceived.  Then, his brow furrowed.  "I sense urgency about you; this is more than a mere social call."

"I'll explain in a minute, but first, I'd like to introduce you to the young lady who guided me here.  Jamie, this is Lris of the House of Sahr.  Lris, this is...."

Tommy's voice trailed off in puzzlement.  The red-headed healer stood immobile, staring at his son in a most peculiar way.  Somehow, he sensed that her reaction was more than that of a star-struck teenager meeting the idol of her dreams.  As for Jamie... he seemed equally entranced.  Jamie reminded him of himself that day by the lockers when he first met Kim --all tongued-tied and loopy-smiled and totally besotted.  Tommy snorted; that was ridiculous!  Jamie was old enough to be her grandfather several times over!  Still, he wondered how long the pair was going gawk at each other, so he cleared his throat.  That seemed to break the spell.

"Lady Lris," Jamie began formally as he drew nearer to match his hand to hers in greeting.  Was it Tommy's imagination, or had both shuddered at the contact?  "I have not seen you since you were a child."

"I do not recall that meeting, my lord," Lris gulped out.

"Please, my name is Jamie; may I address you as Lris?"

"I would like that."

Tommy rolled his eyes.  The two were certainly acting like a pair of love-struck teenagers!

"Thank you for helping my father find his way here.  Know that the doors to my home are always open to you."

"You are too kind."  Then, something recalled the cadet back to the here and now.  "Your pardon, Jamie, but I must leave... I have class...."

"Of course.  I hope you will be able to return soon."

"As do I."

If Tommy hadn't known any better, he'd have sworn the girl had all but skipped from the garden.  At last, her slender figure was completely out of sight, and with a heavy sigh, Jamie turned around.  He seemed almost surprised to find Tommy standing there regarding him expectantly.

"Is something the matter, Father?"

"I should be asking you the same thing," Tommy grunted.  "What was that all about?  The way the two of you were staring...."

"An interesting --and unexpected-- development," Jamie remarked thoughtfully as he began to walk idly towards the house.

"What?"

"It would appear that Lris and I share a matebond."

"A what?"  Tommy had to search his memory of Kim's notes.  Matebonds were totally independent of heart or life bonds.  It meant that two Threans were drawn together to create a third.  "You mean, you and Lris... but you're old enough to be her...."

"But I am not," Jamie interrupted.  "If I were fully human, I would be dust by now, but I am not fully human any longer.  I asked the flesh shapers to give me the years with my lifebond Ayn that I would not have.  They did so, prior to me accepting the Imbera powers.  Now, by Threan standards, I have just come into my prime."

Tommy was having difficulty juggling all the terms and implications.  To him, Jamie looked as human as he, but according to his son, on the inside, he was Threan.

"However, it remains to be seen if the bond is true, and you did not come all this way to discuss my love life, as it were," Jamie began, switching topics.

"True, but I can't shake the feeling that this thing with Lris is going to be important."

*

The afternoon had swiftly melted into evening, and the two men continued to reminisce over their evening meal.  Tommy was fascinated by the details of the family he had never known.  It was staggering to know that he, an orphan with only a brother he'd known for just a few short years, had grandchildren and great-grandchildren --even great-great grandchildren!

"Having more than two children is a rarity for Threan families, so it caused quite a stir when Twyn followed Nahl and Rill.  Ayn's mother blamed it on my human blood.  Fortunately, all the children took after their mother's side of the family.  Although, come to think of it, Rill's daughter Kath has two offspring," Jamie related with a chuckle.

"It may have to do more with the Imbera powers than with blood," Tommy noted.  "I'd be worried if there were too few possible candidates.  You guys would be in the same fix Kim was."

"True, now, if there is no direct descendant of the Imbera, the potential exists in the nieces and nephews.  For example, if Jax has no heir, then Shan --Nahl's granddaughter by his son Wyn-- has the potential."  Jamie's face creased into a frown.  "We may have to enter her in the Academy sooner than we would like."

"Why's that?"

"Jax recently lost his lifebond Trin," was the sad reply.  "She was his Pink Ranger.  There was an accident in the lab... she went to investigate.  She never returned.  Several days later, Jax felt her death.  He has yet to fully recover from the severing of their bond."

Tommy recalled seeing an area in the complex that had been cordoned off, so the events must have been recent.  Recalling how hurt he'd been when Kimberly died, his heart ached for his great-grandson.

"It sounds as if there's more to lifebonding than simply speaking vows and exchanging rings," Tommy said.

"Those are only the outward trappings.  When a pair lifebonds, they join their hearts, minds and souls.  Two become one, joined by a psychic rapport that is unbreakable, save by the death of one of the partners.  It is a... shattering experience to have the bond broken," Jamie related, a shadow crossing his face as he recalled his deceased lifebond.  "It was doubly difficult for Jax since Trin was also a healer.  They shared a rapport through her healing powers as well as through their lifebonding.  She had been inside Jax's mind for years.  She had known all his secrets... his hopes... dreams...fears.  There was no doubt that the matebond would have formed between the two in time.

"She was a lovely woman," the former Imbera sighed fondly.  "Such sunny gold hair... those luminous green eyes...."

"Do you think Jax will be able to pull it together if an emergency arises?" Tommy asked pointedly, unsettled by just how vulnerable Threa's Imbera was right now.

"Losing one's lifebond is akin to dying yourself," Jamie concluded.

Tommy recalled feeling similarly when he'd received Kimberly's letter.  His survival had as much to do with his friends' patience and caring as it did his ability to bury his hurt and lose himself in his Ranger duties.

"You suspect that there is trouble ahead," Jamie interrupted his reflections.

Tommy nodded somberly and related the contents of the dreams which brought him here and all that Billy had imparted to him about the message reverberating through the Morphin' Grid.

"Norzod lives," Jamie murmured grimly.  Then he shook his head in denial.  "That is not possible.  I saw him die.  I watched his body crumble to dust.  I felt his thoughts cease, and after containing his evil wave to the asteroid, I sent that rock into the heart of a star.  There is no way he could have survived."

"Unless he had a contingency plan in place before he died," Tommy remarked thoughtfully, wishing that Zordon could have found a way to cheat death.  "Maybe Norzod had a son or daughter who's taken over where he left off."

"That is possible," Jamie admitted reluctantly.  "Threans believe that the spirits of the dead remain near their loved ones and can communicate with them."

"Could the voice I heard have been Kim's?" Tommy asked hopefully.

"Unlikely.  Without her Imbera powers, Mother had no telepathic abilities."

"Then who could it be?  And why contact me through the Morphin' Grid in another dimension when it would have been easier to contact you directly?"

"We must not have all the pieces to this puzzle yet," Jamie mused.  Suddenly, he yawned.

It was then that Tommy realized that the two of them had been talking for hours.  He hadn't noticed it before, but he was feeling totally drained.

"Perhaps we should continue this discussion in the morning," Jamie said knowingly, and Tommy didn't argue.

*

Tommy couldn't sleep.  He tossed and turned for hours, it seemed.  Finally, he gave up and turned on the light.

Part of his restlessness was due to the fact that Jamie had shown him to Kimberly's private rooms.  Their son had never had the heart to give them to anyone else, so they had been left alone since Kim last used them.  It hurt him more than he dreamed that her bedroom here should so resemble her room in Angel Grove.  The furnishings were almost identical, down to the flowered comforter and curtains.  He noticed it was decorated with her favorite knick-knacks and pictures.  There was even the stuffed dragon he'd won for her at the fair once upon a time.

But there was also evidence of the woman she had become in the sophisticated computer equipment tucked into one corner.  A rack held several well-used swords.  Pictures and holos of her family --son, grandchildren-- remembrances of friends --both Terran and Threan-- and it appeared she had been more successful in monitoring events on earth than he'd been at scanning Threa, judging by the stills of him in both Zeo and Turbo armor.

Being here --in her room-- made him miss her more than ever.

_I wish you were still here, Kim._

The other reason for his sleeplessness was the nagging little voice at the back of his mind bombarding him with questions and concerns.  The more he learned from Jamie, the more his uneasiness had increased, and the more firmly he believed that it was a little too convenient that there was an untried, emotionally unbalanced Imbera in charge with a rookie team of Rangers.  It was a small consolation, though, to know that there were still veterans available should the need arise.

Tommy's thoughts drifted to the former Imbera, Jax's mother.  _Exactly what happened to Twyn?  What kind of injury could she have had that would force her to give up the Imbera powers?  Why couldn't the healers and shapers fix her if they could change Jamie to make him more Threan on the inside?_

_And when was Twyn hurt?  Was it before or after Trin died?  What happened in that lab?  An attack?  Sabotage?  Who kidnaped Trin?  Why not just kill her if she'd stumbled across them during their escape or whatever?_

_What if the intent had been to kidnap the Imbera's lifebond all along?  Imagine the wealth of information about the Imbera that could have been harvest from her mind.  Who would have benefitted from kidnaping and killing Trin?_

Tommy went rigid as that last thought echoed through his mind.  Where had _that_ come from?  That was more a Billy-type question than one he' have come up with.  However, a loud crash from the next room interrupted his musings, and the muted sounds of a fight had him racing to his son's aid.


	5. Chapter 5

From The Ashes

Chapter 5

"Ki-yai!"

Tommy landed another solid punch and threw off the opponent who swarmed in to take his felled nemesis' place.  He had rushed into his son's room and found Jamie trying to fend off a room full of ninja-clad attackers.  There had been no time for questions as a quartet of intruders had been attempting to carry off the former Imbera, so Tommy had simply thrown himself into the fray.

He had long since lost count of the determined foe, but it seemed for every one he took out, two more took his place.  There was no telling what type of beings the assailants were, save that they were humanoid.  They were too bulky to be Threans, but their limbs were too disproportionate to be humans.  However, they fought with the mindless ferocity of putties or cogs but without the destruct mechanism when they were struck.  As near as Tommy could tell, it seemed that their opponents were more interested in carrying off Jamie than in killing him.

As the fight raged on, Tommy found himself seriously winded; since retiring from the Rangers, he'd spent more time in his uncle's race car than in the dojo.  He was out of shape, and it showed.  Jamie was faring little better.  Though he worked out daily, the former Imbera probably hadn't been seriously tested since he retired when his lifebond died, and judging from the way he was favoring his leg, Jamie probably had been injured in the initial salvos of the unequal contest.

In their favor was the fact that, though well versed in traditional martial arts, the invaders were unfamiliar with his particular brand of combined disciplines.  Then, there was their sheer determination... Jamie's will to survive and Tommy's to protect his son at all costs.

Tommy found the strength of that impulse rather startling.  He barely knew Jamie; he'd had no hand in raising him.  For all intents and purposes, his son was a stranger to him, but yet, there was a connection... he could not bear the thought of losing him.  He _would not_ lose this child he and Kimberly had created.

"Jamie!" Tommy gasped in horror, watching as a pair of tiger claws raked his mid-section.  Jamie went down, hugging his abdomen tightly.  The kidnapers may have wanted him alive but not necessarily whole.  Tommy leaped and executed a tight flip over the melee to reach his son's side.

"You've gotta get out of here –get help," Tommy instructed breathlessly as he flung aside another dark-robed body.

"You... can't... hold them...." Jamie panted, trying to ignore the pain.

"It's you they want; we can't let them have you."

Tommy sized up his opponents once again, trying to judge how many he could take before they cut him down to size.  His putty analogy seemed more than apt as the enemy swarmed before him in perpetual motion.  All the picture lacked was Goldar directing the attack.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of something –or someone– in the shadows: a tall figure whose uneven limbs were even more pronounced that the fighters.  This was the leader of the pack.

Suddenly, a burst of light filled the room, and as the brilliance faded, Tommy glimpsed a slender, blue-clad form.  A second flash –this time of red– followed close on the heels of the first.

"Lris," Jamie sighed, a smile touching his lips.

"And Vlar," Tommy added, relieved that the calvary had arrived.  Even so, the odds were still overwhelming.  

"Stay down," he ordered his son and joined the other two in forming a protective triangle about the former Imbera.

However, much to their surprise, the would-be kidnapers didn't even test the new defenders.  The leader Tommy had spotted gave a signal then vanished.  His flunkies did likewise, simply disappearing.

"How strange," Vlar murmured, slow to let relax his guard.

"Tell me about it," Tommy concurred.  Trusting the former Red Ranger's vigilance, he turned his attention to Jamie.  Lris was already at his side, probing his wound.

_DON'T LET HER HEAL HIM!_

The voice hit him with the impact of a physical blow, causing him to wince, his hands flying to cradle his aching head.  However, it was the same voice which had led him to Threa, so he obeyed it.  He reached out quickly and snatched Lris's hands away.

"I can heal him," the cadet said, regarding him eyes full of astonishment.

"I know," Tommy replied somberly.  "I can't explain it yet, but I can't let you or any healer use magic –or whatever you call it-- to fix him up.  We'll have to take him to the infirmary and patch him up the old fashioned way."

Dubious, the red-head turned to the former Imbera. 

"Jamie?" she queried, her soft tone conveying a wealth of unmistakable emotions.

"I trust my father on this," Jamie gritted out.  "Until we know what is going on, it is best to be cautious."

"Very well," she agreed reluctantly, but her healer's instincts chafed at the restriction.

"Let's get him seen to, then we'll talk," Tommy informed Vlar.

"I'll find an emergency lift," Vlar agreed, and the three set to work.

*

Tommy and Vlar stood out of the way as the Academy's chief healer took charge of the patient.  The white-haired elf was none too happy about being restricted to herbs and technology, but then, he had treated Jamie thus often enough in his youth –before the shapers had altered him.  Throughout it all, Lris hovered at Jamie's side, occasionally glaring blackly at Tommy.

"They are matebonded?" Vlar questioned softly so no one else could hear.

"That's what Jamie says."

"Then it is cruel to ask her not to heal him; she feels what he feels...."

"... and knows what he knows –there are no secrets between healer and patient or between two who are bonded," Tommy replied tightly.  "Someone just tried to kidnap –not kill– Jamie.  My gut tells me that if a healer were to work on him...."

"That healer could be the next target," Vlar concluded, picking up on the tread of Tommy's idea.

"And we've already lost one healer who's worked on an Imbera she was bonded to."

Apparently, the one-time Red Ranger had not made that particular connection as yet.  His eyes narrowed grimly.

"What I would like to know is how those invaders gained access to the main house.  It may not appear so, but it is heavily fortified."

"And why didn't the current team of Rangers respond?" Tommy put forth.  "Even if security had been deactivated, Jamie must have sent out a mental S. O. S."

"But he did not... I would have heard such a summons if he had," Vlar insisted.  "I was totally unaware that he was in danger until I received a call from the girl.  How were you alerted?"

"I was in the room next door; I heard the commotion," Tommy answered.  "Not being of a telepathic race, I wouldn't have heard a mental call at all.  Is it possible for someone to block telepathy –like jamming a zord's radar?"

"It is possible," the Threan Ranger confirmed.

"But they didn't know about Jamie and Lris' bond –it just happened this afternoon– and I think we'd better keep it that way," Tommy commented.

"Who else knows?"

"As far as I can tell, just those two and you and me."

Vlar nodded, agreeing to his plan.  "As head of security, I need to report this breach to the Rangers and the Imbera."

"I know, and I have a few questions of my own to ask –especially about the injury to Twyn and Trin's abduction and death."

Vlar started to say something, then thought better of it.  Instead, he said, "I dislike leaving Jamie unattended.  I would call in Beys, but it would take too much time to brief her."

"I don't think we have to worry for now," Tommy replied, grinning as he observed the by-play between his son and his new matebond.  "I doubt the attackers will return so soon, and I don't think Lris will be leaving Jamie's side any time soon."

Further speculation was put on hold as they were approached by the chief healer.

"He will live... and mend, given time," the aged elf reported grumpily.

"You have our thanks, Healer Ming," Vlar said.

"Hmphf!  You look like you could use a healer's touch," the medic noted, taking in Tommy's collection of cuts and bruises.

"I appreciate the offer, but I doubt it'd me much good," the former Earth Ranger demurred with a wry grin, "but I heal pretty quickly on my own."

"You are as bad as that one," the man muttered as he took his leave.

The two wandered over to Jamie's bedside.

"Ming is used to my 'eccentricities,'" Jamie said, his lighthearted tone tinged with pain and fatigue.  "He inherited some difficult patients from his mother."

"How are you holding up?" Tommy asked of Lris, more cognizant of the pain shadowing her features.

"I endure... though I don't understand," she answered, her voice laced with disapproval.

"As soon as I understand it, I'll let you know," he quipped.  "For now, all I have is instinct to go on and right now they're all screaming at me not to let you touch Jamie if we want to keep you alive."

"This is for _my_ safety?" Lris gulped, that thought not having occurred to her.

"What of our bonding?" Jamie queried.  "If we do not complete the bonding soon, we will become ill."

"Can you do it without it being common knowledge?" Tommy asked.

"That all depends.  If we simply matebond, then yes, it can be handle privately, but if we lifebond as well, there normally is great feasting.  Lris and I have not spoken of which course we are to take, but if we lifebond, I would not deprive her of her 'wedding day' as you would call it."

Tommy sighed, understanding his son too well.  "That was the one thing I always wished I could have given your mother.  She had such dreams for our wedding, and all I could give her were the words and a few hours in the Morphin' Grid."

"Why do you ask this?"

"Your cries for help went unheard save by Lris, who I am certain, heard them with her heart, not her mind," Vlar explained.  "It was she who summoned me."

"It was even less than that," the Blue Cadet added.  "It was just a feeling that you were in danger."

"Since we don't know what we're up against, we need every advantage we can get," Tommy summarized.

"We must behave as routinely as possible," the head of security continued, "Tommy and I must report this to the Imbera...."

"Give me a moment and I will accompany...." Jamie began and tried to sit up; he was promptly forced back by his three companions.

"You'll stay right here," Tommy ordered in full command voice.  "Lris, if he tries to get out of bed, sit on him."

Jamie laughed, making his side hurt.  "You sound just like Mother."

"I wouldn't doubt it, considering how many times she threatened to do the same to me when I was injured," Tommy chuckled.  "Seriously, though, stay put.  Vlar and I will fill you in later."

"You would do well to take Vlar fully into your confidence," Jamie advised with a meaningful look.

"I intend to."

"Cadet Lris, as head of security, I am charging you to remain here with the First Born and see to his safety."  To the others' perplexed stares, Vlar added more softly, "Just giving Lris an offical reason to be here.  You never know who might be listening."

It was a sobering thought.

*

"Man, I wish Billy was here," Tommy sighed as he and Vlar made their way to the main chamber of the Command Center.  Since this was an official matter, Vlar felt more comfortable meeting with the Imbera and Rangers there instead of their personal quarters.

"Who is Billy?" Vlar wondered.

"The smartest guy I know; he was 'my' Blue Ranger."  He meant no slight to Rocky or Justin, but when he thought of the Blue Ranger, he automatically pictured Billy.  Also, Threan knowledge in general of the Earth Rangers seemed not to extend past the Ninja Ranger period.  No sense in confusing things further.

"I have to tell you, I'm better at battle strategies than at solving mysteries," Tommy continued.  "I was great at thinking on my feet in a fight, but Billy was the one who could look at a problem from all angles then ask the questions that would lead us to the right answer.  It's like I see the pieces; I know they're important somehow, but I can't quite fit them together."

"That is why the Rangers are a team; one member's weakness is another teammate's strength," Vlar said sagely. Then, he changed the topic.  "If I may ask, what is it that Jamie advised you to confide to me?  Is it a matter I should be aware of prior to our meeting with the Imbera?"

"Probably," Tommy answered and related the matter of Norzod and the dream message.

"This is grave news, indeed," the security chief commented, a grim frown marking his face.  "The Imbera should be told immediately."

_"I wouldn't,"_ came the advice of the Voice.

_And why not?_ Tommy challenged, directly addressing the bodiless speaker for the first time.  Yet, even as he posed the question, his mind was already considering possibilities.  He wasn't liking what he was coming up with.  

_You and I are going to have a little chat when I'm done here,_ he promised his silent counselor.  Aloud, he said, "I don't think telling Jax would be a good idea."

"Why not?  Norzod was the worst threat Threa has ever faced; if he has somehow returned, the Rangers need to be prepared...."

"That's a big 'if,'" Tommy argued.  "Look, we have no proof –just the word of a disembodied voice inside my head."  He thought he heard an affronted sniff in the back of his mind.  "A human's head... we're the most untelepathic species out there.  Not exactly reliable, y'know?

"All right.  We know something is up, but we don't know what.  We have a possible who, and with that we can make a few guesses as to why.  That knowledge is our only advantage, and we've already figured out that the enemy –whether Norzod, his son or some flunky– doesn't know _everything_ that's going on around here, but he knows enough.  He knows we have an untried team of Rangers on our hands.  He knows we have an emotionally distraught Imbera leading them.  And while we can't be certain if the guy who tried to make off with Jamie also made off with Trin, I'm willing to be that they're connected somehow.  I think we'd be safe in assuming that Jax has been mentally compromised since Trin knew what he knew.  I don't know if it'd be possible for anyone to pick Jax's brain directly, but do you want to take that chance?"

"I concede your points, but I do not feel comfortable withholding information from the Imbera," Vlar admitted with great reluctance.

"I know it's asking a lot –asking you to trust me when you hardly know me.  All I ask is that we don't say anything tonight.  After we've had a chance to talk to Jamie again or come up with some better information, we can revise our strategy.  We don't want to tip our hand."

"Fair enough," the former Ranger allowed.

Tommy heaved a sigh of relief.

_"Billy would be proud,"_ the Voice complimented.

"Come; they are ready for us," Vlar announced, and the two moved ahead to their audience.

*

While Vlar made his report, Tommy remained in the background, taking it all in.  He was grateful for the translator the security chief provided him, so he could understand the lyrical Threan tongue.

The reason he was content to observe at first was because he had been unable to speak, so overcome with emotions and memories was he.  It was as if he had teleported into Zordon's old Command Center –complete with viewing globe.  Kimberly had managed to recreate their old headquarters almost perfectly.  He fully expected to see Alpha totter into the chamber and go "Ay-yi-yi!"  All that was missing was the kindly, wizened visage in the column of blue light.  The luminous shaft still shone, but it was on the seat of the Threan White Ranger... their mentor... his great-grandson.

The Rangers were all in full armor, since it was a formal debriefing, and they had not been personally introduced to Tommy.  He wished they had at least removed their helmets.  He'd forgotten how disconcerting it was to talk to someone without being able to see a face... reactions.... The Rangers' uniforms were much like the color-coded armor his own team had worn upon receiving the Ninja Powers on Phaedos, as opposed to their original costumes or the Zeo/Turbo uniforms.   He didn't recognize any of the symbols on the chest plates, save for Jax's.  His was the Crane/Falcon intertwined of the Great Imbera.

_I wonder what his spirit animal truly is._

Tommy would have liked to have seen his great-grandson's face.  Even without being able to see his expression, Tommy could tell that something was weighing heavily on the White Ranger's shoulders; his whole carriage was slumped as if in defeat.

_Not a good sign._

"It appears we owe you a debt of gratitude, Ranger of Earth."

Tommy quickly brought himself back to the here and now as Jax began speaking to him.  Even his descendant's voice sounded strained.

"Your swift action saved my grandsire's life."

"I'm just glad I was able to help," he responded.  By mutual agreement, he and Vlar weren't going to mention his relationship to the Imbera unless someone put two and two together.

"You are called Tommy?  How is it that you came here?  None of us were aware of your arrival," the present Red Ranger spoke up.  Tommy was glad to see his unannounced appearance bothered _somebody._

"I was teleported from our Power Chamber, but it was a rocky trip."  _That_ was an understatement, as well as essentially being the truth.  "So I wasn't too surprised I landed in the park.  To be honest, I'm surprised I didn't set off all sorts of alarms."

"So are we," the Green Ranger added.

"Especially when I walked right into the Command Center and wandered around trying to find my way."  His tone was slightly accusatory, and his words drove home the point that the lax security had undoubtedly facilitated the raid.

"You are Earth's White Ranger?" the Pink Ranger spoke up.  

Her uniform was so like Kim's that it make Tommy's heart ache.

"Yes –recently retired."

"What brings you here now, if not duty?" This came from the Blue Ranger –a very Billy-like query.

"To return a visit.  Jamie journeyed to Earth to pay his respects when we honored Kimberly –your Great Imbera– upon learning of her death."  Tommy wanted to snicker at how snooty he sounded; he feared he was starting to pick up on the Threans' English dialect.  "Jamie invited me to return the visit sometime, and since I was no longer an active Ranger, I figured this would be a good time."

"Almost too good," the Yellow Ranger remarked.  "Not to be rude, but have you any proof?"

"Will this do?  I no longer have my power morpher," Tommy said as removed the signet from around his neck and handed it to the Yellow Ranger.  In turn, the young man handed it to Jax.

Tommy felt curiously naked without the talisman.  Not only that, but there was a strange emptiness in his mind as if he'd been cut off from the presence that had been guiding him.  That hadn't happened before when he'd shown the medallion to Lris and Vlar. It was all he could to keep from snatching back the amulet.

"This is not a fabrication," Jax murmured, his hollow voice lifting slightly, as if something had worked past his pain and sparked a flicker of interest.  "This is truly the seal of the Great Imbera; it is imbued with her essence.  Grandfather must hold you in high esteem to bequeath this to you."  

He returned the signet, and Tommy gratefully slipped it around his neck.  Imbued with Kim's essence... was that the reason he thought that the Voice had been Kimberly's?

"You are welcome, White Ranger of Earth," Jax pronounced.  "Feel free to stay as long as you wish; however, in light of this evening's events, I do not think your visit will be a tranquil one."

"I'll help out any way I can," Tommy offered.  He wanted to ask dozens of questions, but he knew that if he pressed matters now, all he'd do is make Jax and the others suspicious.

"I would like to talk to you at greater length; however, that can wait until morning.  You are injured and should rest.  Vlar, are you certain the First Born is sufficiently guarded?"

"He could not be in better hands," the chief of security replied.

"We shall reconvene in the morning, then."

*

Sore and bone weary, Tommy gratefully sank into Kim's old bed; however, he was not quite ready to fall asleep.  There was a promise he had to keep.

_"You still there?"_

_"Yes."_  But the Voice was weaker than before.

_"Your link to me is through the amulet, isn't it.  When I took it off, it felt like you weren't there."_

_"The medallion acts as a focal point –a beacon, if you will.  It takes a lot of energy to reach you since you're not a telepath.  Basically, if it weren't for your connection to the Morphin' Grid, I wouldn't be able to link to you at all."_

_"Who are you?"_

_"A friend.  Someone who worked long and hard and sacrificed much to keep Threa safe.  I'm not about to let Norzod win."_

_"But...."_

_"Rest now, Tommy.  I need to recoup my strength, and I can do that best when you're asleep.  Besides, tomorrow is going to be a busy day."_


	6. Chaoter 6

From The Ashes

Chapter 6     

The morning meeting was much more relaxed than the previous evening's –at least as far as the dress code was concerned.  Though not in uniform, the Power Team was garbed in color-coded jumpsuits much like Vlar's: a solid color bodysuit with piping, but where Vlar's was black with red, the current Red Ranger's was red with white.  Only Jax was in what Tommy considered civilian clothing; however the tunic and trousers were all in white with silver and black trimmings.  He also wore about his neck a medallion identical to the one which hung around Tommy's.

Everyone was still getting settled, so Tommy used the time to study his great-grandson, who had resumed his place seated on the dais.

_He looks the way I felt the day Zordon told me I was to take over as team leader,_ Tommy mused.  He remembered being excited and scared to death, worried about his inexperience and the responsibility being put on his shoulders.  The fear of knowing he could possibly send one of his friends to death....  The doubts of being able to follow in Jason's footsteps....  The dark shadows of pain and loss had come later to him, once the mantle of leadership rested more easily on his shoulders.

As Jamie had noted, his children favored their mother; Jax appeared more Threan than human.  There were only slight differences: eyes more round than almond shaped, ears slightly less tapered.  He was not quite as tall as most Threans, and he was a bit broader through the shoulders... tiny differences that could be explained away as regional variations.  One wouldn't have known Jax wasn't fully Threan if one didn't know ahead of time.  Tommy could probably stand right next to Jax and not be recognized as being family, though they shared the same mahogany coloring of hair and chocolate brown eyes.

_He looks like shit._

Tommy could see how sunken the Imbera's eyes were, the deep purple shadows from lack of sleep.  His face was gaunt and lined with worry.  There was no luster in the brown depths of Jax's eyes; they were dull, glazed... haunted.

"I am afraid that we did not have much time for pleasantries last night," his descendant began, calling the meeting to order.  "I am Jax, White Ranger and Imbera for Threa."  

He then nodded to the Ranger to his right.

"Brath," the Red Ranger introduced himself, his tone curt but not unfriendly.  He was solidly built –stockier than the others with penetrating blue eyes and thick, close cropped blond curls.  He struck Tommy as a man of few words.

"I am Synn," the Yellow Ranger spoke up.  He was a lanky young man with reddish hair.  Tommy could see a family resemblance to Lris; this had to be her cousin.

"Zol," the female Blue Ranger said, her mocha brown skin contrasting sharply with her pale, white-blond hair and green eyes.  With her shapely curves, she could have been a model on Earth.

"I am Emd," the sharp featured Green Ranger announced with a nod.  Tommy was rather taken aback by how much the Threan Ranger resembled himself in coloring and build.

Lastly, the Pink Ranger introduced herself.  "Prist."

Tommy felt sorry for the pearly skinned, sable-haired young woman with jewel-like blue eyes as haunted as Jax's.  According to Jamie, she was the younger sister of Jax's lifebond.  Her being on the team couldn't be easy for either her or the White Ranger, and Tommy wondered what could have been the reason for Prist filling in for her sister.

"Is there anything further you can tell us about the attempt to abduct the First Born?" Brath queried.  "We have reviewed our security computers and could find no evidence of a breach or any record of suspicious activity –prior to the activity in the First Born's quarters."

"There was no indication that anyone had tampered with the computer," Zol added.

"Then it seems that it was either an inside job or someone knows your security system well enough to circumvent the programs without detection," Tommy murmured.

"Or, you were imagining things," Emd snorted.  There was an edge to this Green Ranger as sharp as the angular plains of his face.

"If I'd been the only one to see the intruders, I'd say you had a valid argument, but I have Vlar –your head of security– and the First Born himself to back me up," Tommy countered.

"I spoke with Healer Ming; grandfather's wounds were not self inflicted," Jax interjected.

"Look, I realize that after centuries of peace, this seems unthinkable, but it did happen.  Now you've got to try and figure out who did it and why."

"What can you tell us about the men you fought?" Synn asked.

"They were dressed in traditional Ninja costumes, so you couldn't see anything of their features," Tommy began, then belatedly wondered if he should explain in greater detail as the Threans might not know what Ninjas were, but evidently the martial arts database that Kim had taken back with her had covered the information on the shadow warriors.  No one appeared confused by the term, so he pressed on.  "I saw a full compliment of traditional Ninja weapons: numchuks, shuriken, sai, tiger claws... and they were well trained in karate."

"Could they have been of human origin?" Prist asked.  "Vlar's report mentioned the body type was all wrong for a Threan."

Tommy considered his observations.  "No, I don't think they were human.  The body was out of proportion... like the arms were too long.  Also, I didn't notice that any of the attackers had a personal shield like I do."

"While we know we are not alone in our universe, we have not had much contact with our other-wordly neighbors," Zol murmured.  "If we could perhaps get a sketch to feed into the computer, we might be able to come up with a few possibilities."

"I'm no artist, but I'll try."

"Was there anything else?" Brath wondered.

"Just that they seemed to want to take Jamie alive, if not whole."  Tommy frowned, trying to concentrate on a sudden nagging at the back of his mind –that wasn't the Presence.  "I also noticed that there was one guy during the fight who didn't join in.  He was like an observer or even their leader.  He hung back until Vlar and Lris arrived, then he gave the signal to retreat."

"I do not like this," Prist whispered with a shudder.  "I was in contact with Trin right before she vanished.  She mentioned seeing a figure all in black leaving the lab area after the explosion.  She followed him... noting that he had an unusual gait... then she...."

Zol quickly wrapped the stricken Pink Ranger in a comforting hug, and Tommy noted the others pointedly did not look at Jax.

"I, too, received those impressions," Jax choked out.

"And no one bothered to follow up on this intruder?" Tommy asked, incredulous.

"It has been... difficult," Synn replied.

"But Tommy is right; we should have pursued this more diligently," Emd remarked tersely.

"There's no point in worrying about what hasn't been done," Tommy said, hoping to quell the rising tension he felt.  "Let's look at everything that's happened and see where that gets us.  You've had two break ins in your Command Center.  One resulted in a trashed lab and a dead Ranger.  The other nearly cost you your First Born.  Does anyone know what was in the lab that was so important?  Was it just destroyed or had it been ransacked?  Was anything missing?"

The Rangers looked to one another, and Tommy could see that none of them knew, not even Jax, which he found extremely odd.

"That lab was the responsibility of the team healer," Prist said at last, her voice choked and raw.

"Can we get a hold of Trin's predecessor?" Tommy asked.  "Either the lab was a trick to get to Trin, or there was something important in there someone wanted and Trin got in the way."

"Marg was team healer before Trin," Jax answered, his voice as unsteady as Prist's.  "She retired when Mother did."

"Do you know what exactly happened to your mom, Jax?" Tommy pursued.  "It's possible it could be connected to these other assaults."

"I do not know for certain; Mother never speaks of it," the Imbera admitted.  "All I can tell you is that it happened before Trin's death, and Mother was not in the complex at the time.  I felt her fear for a moment, then I was overwhelmed by the power transfer....  It was so unexpected... so sudden.  I was still reeling when the parent-link was severed.  I knew Mother was not dead, but for all intents and purposes, she was.  I could no longer touch her mind."

"Maybe Jamie knows more about it," Tommy muttered thoughtfully.

"Do you think there is a connection between all these events?" Brath inquired.

"Don't you?"

"There was a good half turn of the seasons between the assault on Imbera Twyn and Trin's death, and at least that long between what befell Trin and the events of last night," Synn pointed out.

"Three attacks.  Three Imbera's injured in some way –after all, Jax was hurt by his lifebond's death; it can't be a coincidence," Tommy insisted.

"When you paint it thusly...." Emd admitted grudgingly.

"I am afraid that none of us has much practical experience in dealing with such intrigues," Jax sighed.  "I do not doubt our skills in battle; that, we are trained for.  However, all our lives, we have only known peace.  Mother's team was the last with any 'war time' experience.  I would welcome any suggestions."

Tommy considered for a moment, then offered up, "We need to look a lot more closely at all three attacks.  We need to know how those guys were able to get past security to get so close to the Imberas.  I'd also see what some of your past foes are up to these days.  Bad guys have a nasty habit of not staying dead."

*

From the Command Center's main chamber, Tommy returned to the infirmary, and was relieved to find Jamie looking much improved.

"How did the meeting go?" Jamie queried.

"At least I have them thinking that your attempted abduction, Trin's death and Twyn's maiming are related somehow," Tommy sighed.  "It's hard for me to believe that they found such a thing unthinkable.  They're trained to be warriors and protectors; don't they teach you to be wary and a bit suspicious at that Academy of yours?"

"Your world has never known peace as ours has," Jamie pointed out.  "Peace can breed complacency."

"But their eyes are open now," Lris interjected, making her presence known as she returned with a breakfast tray laden with a meal for two.

Tommy had the feeling that he hadn't been included in the order.  However, he pressed on with business.  "Jamie, I need to know what happened to Twyn.  What was done to her?  Did she see her assailant?  Would she know anything about the lab that was broken into?"

Jamie sighed heavily.

"I do not know about the lab; it did not exist when I was Imbera.  As for what happened to my daughter... I do not know the particulars, only the outcome.  Whoever attacked her destroyed the telepathic centers in her brain."

Lris gasped in shock and horror.

"That... that...." she stammered, unable to find words for such an atrocity.

To address Tommy's puzzled expression, Jamie continued, "That would be the equivalent of rendering a human blind, deaf and mute —and robbing one of his Morphin' Powers as well.  Threans are a race of telepaths, and every Threan has a psychic bond with somebody: parent to child, lifebond to lifebond....  When Twyn's mental abilities were destroyed, she lost her link to me, to Jax and to whoever her matebond –Jax's father– had been.  She can never hope to have another child without the mindlink, and she will never be able to wield the Imbera powers again."  Jamie paused, controlling the pain he felt for his child's maiming.

"Twyn never told anyone who Jax's father was; perhaps in retrospect, it is for the best that they never lifebonded."  At that, he reached for Lris' hand.

"It would not have mattered.  Her matebond would have felt all her pain... felt the bond dissolve.  In essence, a part of him died with her," Vlar spoke up, his tone haunted.  He had arrived during Jamie's explanation, relieving the prior watch.

"I realize that this will be painful for Twyn, but we have to ask her about the attack," Tommy pursued.  "We have to know what happened to see if it fits with the other two to date.  If it will help, I'll be the bad guy and ask all the tough questions.  Where can I find Twyn?"

"Since her injury, Twyn sees no one, not even Jax," Jamie informed his father.  "She might see me... she grudgingly responds to my weekly messages."

"You are going nowhere with that injury," Lris insisted.

"She is correct," Vlar backed her up.

"If only you'd allow a healer...."

"And risk endangering his or her life?" Tommy asked pointedly, and Jamie was forced to concede.

"I could go with Tommy," Vlar suggested.  "She might be willing to see me."

"No," Tommy countermanded.  "You're needed here –as much to guard Jamie as to be our eyes and ears."

The former Red Ranger bowed to Tommy's wisdom.

"Would I do?"

The startled quartet turned towards the door, and Tommy found himself gaping at the newcomer.  He was used to the height of Threan females, but this one had the form of a body builder.  Her white hair hung over her eyes in a loose mop, but it was cropped close about the base of her skull, save for a long, slender, silvery braid.  The elfin eyes which peeked out from under the snowy bangs were a rich violet color.

"Beys!" Vlar exclaimed and greeted her so warmly that Tommy had to wonder about the history between the two.  As he recalled, Beys had been Jamie's Pink Ranger, though she wore no trace of the signature color now.

"She and Vlar were heartbonded and thought to be lifebonded when the matebond surfaced between her and Kith," Jamie explained softly.  "It was one of those rare instances where both partners were resistant to the bond.  Beys bore her child, and Kith raised her when Twyn asked Beys to stay on as Pink Ranger.  Last I heard, Kith and Fash had finally lifebonded.

Tommy knew the names –all were Jamie's friends and teammates, but he was having trouble remembering the color assignments.  Kith and Fash... Green and Yellow Rangers respectively.  He shook his head; this was worse than a soap opera!

"You could have contacted me yourself, instead of leaving me to find out from Gram," Beys huffed as she pulled up to Jamie's bedside.

Gram – Jamie's Blue Ranger.  Tommy needed a score card.

"It happened late last night; how did Gram find out?" Jamie wondered.

"He is one of my instructors," Lris said.  "I had to apply for a leave of absence from the Academy to remain here.  Since he was one of your Rangers and friends, I thought he would be the safest person to contact."

Tommy saw the necessity for her actions but wasn't too sure it had been a wise move since they were trying to keep what knowledge they could from leaking out.

Jamie seemed to sense what was on his mind.  "Do not worry, Tommy; Gram is as trustworthy and discreet as Vlar.  Besides, news of my injury will seep out in spite of our best efforts to keep it quiet.  There are too many medical staff in and out of here since I am not allowed a healer."

"Why can you not have a healer and what is going on?" Beys demanded.  "And who is needing to see Twyn?"

"I am," Tommy answered.

The woman stared at him, eyes narrowing in confusion.  As she looked from Tommy to Jamie and back again, he could see her putting the pieces together.

"By my Ancestors!" she breathed, her eyes widening in astonishment as the final piece of the connection fell into place.

"Congratulations, Beys; you are the first person who did not need to be told who Tommy is," Jamie joked dryly.

"And I assume it is meant to be that way," the former Pink Ranger observed.

"Tommy will fill you in on the way to Twyn's," Jamie assured her.

* * *

The former Imbera's hideaway was in a remote section of the mountains, just on the edge of the treeline.  Thanks to the vicious air currents, air transportation was all but impossible.

". . . and Twyn has a scrambler set to screen out teleportees," Beys related.

The pair took a ground transport as far as they could then hiked the remainder of the way.

_And I thought Uncle John's cabin was isolated!_ Tommy mused.  However, he put the time to good use and updated Beys on the situation.

"I agree with your thinking," the former Pink Ranger commented once everything was laid out.  "It is too convenient that all of the Imberas are in some way crippled.  And why did not anyone bother investigating this lab sooner?"

"My guess is that Jax didn't have the heart to assign anyone else to do it after Trin was murdered."

"The youngling needs to pull himself out of his funk and start acting like an Imbera," Beys sniffed.

"When I lost Kim, I buried myself in my Ranger duties so I wouldn't feel the pain," Tommy said, understanding what his great-grandson was going through, "but Jax doesn't even know yet what his duties are so he can't lose himself in them."

"About the only person who might be able to get through to him is his mother –if we can pull _her_ out of her funk."

Beys was an excellent tracker, and she unerringly led them to a clearing in the trees.  To Tommy's astonishment, there was a pond ringed by the foliage; he'd have thought that it would be too cold for an open body of water this high up.  At the pond's edge, cleverly concealed by rocks and trees, was a modest cabin.

"She likes her privacy," Tommy began, but Beys silenced him, immediately putting him on his guard.  He strained his senses, trying to catch what it was that had alerted his companion.

Suddenly, a lone figure dropped out of the trees, flattening Beys and kicking out at Tommy.  He was a fraction of a second faster and ducked while countering with a low sweeping kick of his own.  

The woman seemed to have no back up, and her surprise assault had left Beys down and dazed.  However, Tommy felt pretty confident about the one-on-one odds.  That, and his assailant seemed to be rustier than he was.  The two traded punches, blocks and kicks, their sharp exclamations filling the air, as they inched closer and closer to the water's edge.

At last, Tommy found an opening in his opponent's defense.  Taking advantage of that slim crack, he broke through her guard and dropped her to the forest floor.  As he stood over her menacingly, he froze in amazement.  Though this was a Threan woman, the features and coloring were unmistakably....

"Kimberly?" he gulped out, stunned.  His distraction cost him as his opponent took advantage and kicked him backwards, sending him sprawling into the frigid water.

"Damn!" was all Tommy could sputter as he broke the surface.  He shook the water from his eyes and found his sparring partner on the bank, body poised to resume the fight, eying him suspiciously.

"Who are you?" she demanded, "And how do you know the name Kimberly?"

Before Tommy could answer, a low moan from up the embankment caught their attention.

"Ancestors take you, Twyn! Who taught you to fight dirty like that?"

"Beys?"

Forgotten as his granddaughter rushed to help her former teammate, Tommy slogged out of the icy water and squelched his way over to where the mind-crippled Imbera was helping the once-Pink Ranger to sit up.

"What are you doing here?" Twyn queried.  It was apparent the only reason Beys had stayed down was because she had struck her temple on a rock.  Blood trickled down the side of her face.  "This is bad, and there is no healer here."

"We could not let one touch me even if there was one up here," Beys answered.  She jerked her thumb towards the soggy third member of their party.  "_He_ would not allow it"

"Why not?" Twyn snapped, whirling to face her former opponent.  Her eyes narrowed as she studied him for the first time.

"Unless she's at death's door, we can't risk losing another healer.  The stakes are too high," Tommy responded through chattering teeth.  As with Beys, he could see her making the connections.

"The pictures from grandmother's quarters... father showed me... you are my grandsire?"

"You look so much like your grandmother," Tommy murmured, unable to resist the urge to touch her cheek as he would have Kim's.  He knew it was a liberty; his granddaughter was a total stranger, but he just couldn't help himself.  Twyn, however, made no objection; she seemed to understand his need.

"Father always told me I was the very image of Grandmother.  She died before I was born," Twyn said, catching Tommy's hand and holding it to her cheek.  "I wish I could have known her."

"She'd be very proud of you," Tommy assured her.

"Why did not father come with you?" Twyn wondered.  Somewhat sheepishly, she added, "I would not have ambushed him.  I have been expecting him to come since I moved up here."

"He wanted to," Tommy began.

And Beys finished for him, "But he is in the infirmary because someone tried to rip his innards out last night."

"What?!"

"This wasn't exactly a social call," Tommy admitted ruefully.  "We need your help."

Even as he spoke the words, he could see the caramel-haired elf-woman ice over.  The doors inside her shut tight once again.

"Let's get Beys inside and treat her wound the old fashioned way, and we'll talk," Tommy suggested, nodding to Twyn to help him lift their injured companion.

"And we should find some dry clothing for your grandsire," Beys added, recoiling from Tommy's soggy, icy touch, "before he freezes to death."

*

Twyn seemed totally lost when it came to first aid, so Tommy did his fumbling best, trying to recall everything Kim and Billy had taught him about emergency medicine and hoping it would work on Threans.  A Boy Scout he was not!  He was doubly hampered by the white robe Twyn had found for him.  She was taller and thinner than he was, so the gown was tight across the shoulders and the sleeves were too long. He kept having to push them out of the way.

As he worked on Beys, he told his granddaughter what was going on back at the Command Center.

"I wish I could help you," Twyn said in a tiny voice.

The pain and fear in her eyes unnerving.  Tommy had seen the warrior in the former Imbera, but to see her reduced to this cowering shadow....  It was too much of a reminder of what he'd been through –twice– as the Green Ranger.  

"I truly do," the stricken Ranger continued, "but there is nothing I can do."

"But there is," Tommy insisted.  He finished securing Bey's (who had been uncommonly quiet thus far) bandage and turned to face his descendant, who was curled up in a tight ball amid a pile of pillows and blankets.  "Jamie says the lab wasn't built during his term as Imbera, so it had to be done during yours.  We need to know more about it.  What was in there that was so important that someone would either steal or destroy it?

"I do not know...." Twyn whimpered like a frightened child.

"Then who does?" Tommy pursued.  "Someone has to know.  Trin was out looking for something or someone in connection with that lab, and she died for it.  And I'm willing to bet that whoever was in that lab is the same someone who is picking off Imberas one by one.  Jax was emotionally damaged by the loss of his lifebond to the point where he can barely function.  Jamie was all but disemboweled and nearly kidnaped, and you...."

"... had my brains turned to mush," Twyn snapped harshly.  "They destroyed a part of me... they shut me off from everything: my father, my child, my powers....  Whatever you want from me, Grandfather, I can not give it!"

"Yes, you can," Tommy fired back in full command voice, to the astonishment of his listeners.  Silently, he prayed, _Kim, you reached me with words once; I hope I can do as much for Twyn._

"While you still live and breathe, powers or not, you are a Power Ranger.  You were the White Ranger, the Imbera, the leader of a team that protected all of Threa, and _nothing_ can ever take that away from you.  You swore an oath when you accepted those powers; you gave your word of honor to do everything in your power to serve and protect.  I'm holding you to that vow now.  Threa needs you.

"You're not the only Ranger who has ever been 'crippled;' nor are you the only one who ever tried to hide from it all when the pain –the loss– was too great to handle.  I only voluntarily surrendered my powers once: when I retired.  Between Zedd and Rita, my powers were stolen or destroyed four times: twice when I was the Green Ranger and twice as the White Ranger.  And I can't even count how many times my brains had been turned to mush and my will subverted by all the bad guys who turned me to evil.

"I may not know what it's like to be a telepath and have that part of me closed off forever, but I do know what it's like to be made blind, deaf and dumb.  The Power is a part of you.  When they stole my powers, it was like they ripped out my heart and soul.  It was like being locked in a dark closet.  I felt like I wasn't whole any more... that I was powerless and useless and unfit to even associate with my friends and teammates.

"Four times, Twyn.  I went through the same Hell you're going through four times.  Even your grandmother went through it twice.  And do you know how we crawled out of that pit of despair?  Our friends and teammates needed our help.  Powers or no, we were still needed, and in spite of our pain, we knew our duty.

"You are needed, Twyn Hart-Oliver –whether it's for your martial arts skills or for your knowledge of the Command Center, you are needed, White Ranger."

Tommy felt completely drained.  Speeches were not his forte; that was Jason and Kim's jobs to give the pep talks to him.  Yet, he stood there regarding Twyn sternly, hands on hips in what Kim always called his superhero pose.

However, the charged silence was broken by irreverent snickering.  Annoyed, Tommy turned to glare at Beys and caught a glimpse of what had so amused the retired Pink Ranger.  He saw his reflection.  He felt as puffed up and confident as if he was wearing his full armor, but he was dressed in a flowing white robe that was too large for him, and his wet, bedraggled hair streamed down his back in limp, wavy strands.  Though his expression was fierce, he looked ridiculous.  With sigh of exasperation, he returned his attention to the injured Imbera.  His tone softened as he addressed her.

"No one can force you, Twyn, but I beg you to help us.  If not for Threa, then for your family.  Jax is in danger, and so is whoever is the next Imbera after him." 

"You're not being fair."

"Life's not fair.  If it was, your grandmother and I would have lived happily ever after on Earth."

"So, how many times have you give than rousing speech?" Beys wondered.

"Never, but I got it often enough from Kim and my best friend Jason to have it memorized," he answered.  He flashed Twyn a sheepish grin.  "You weren't the only one to hole up in a cabin in the mountains to lick your wounds and whine about your losses."

Twyn said nothing, but she did manage a small smile.

Just then, an all too familiar chime sounded, and both former White Rangers snapped to attention.

Beys activated her communicator.  "Yes, Vlar?"

_"You and Tommy are needed back at the Command Center."_

Tommy snuck a peek at Twyn; he saw the rise of painful shadows in her eyes.  He caught her hand and gave it a supportive squeeze.  The gesture elicited a small smile of gratitude.

"What has happened?" Beys asked.

_"I do not know yet, but the Rangers are mobilizing the Megazord."_

"Twyn, can you shut down your scrambler so we can teleport out of here?" Tommy requested; it would take too much time to trek back to the ground car.

"All right," she acquiesced reluctantly.

"Shall I have Vlar teleport two or three?" Beys asked.

"Two, for now."  Tommy was about to say something, but Twyn silenced him with a gesture.  "I will come to the complex, but I can't teleport.  It is... too soon.  Plus, there is something I need to look into for you: someone who should know about that lab."

"Thank you," Tommy said with heartfelt gratitude, and he gave his granddaughter a hug.

"Ready when you are, Vlar," Beys radioed.  "Two to teleport.. and Vlar, have some practical clothing waiting for Tommy."


	7. Character List

Character List

This is for all you folks who, like Tommy, feel you need a scorecard to keep track of everyone in the story.  I know _I_ need it. : )

The following is a list of all the Threan Ranger teams.  Most have been at least mentioned in the story; some have actually appeared.

**Kim's Team (all deceased)**

White: Kim

Red: Dav (m)

Blue: Sahr (f)

Yellow: Rhee (m)

Green: J'Ust (f)

Pink: Brek (f)

**Jamie's Team**

White: Jamie

Red: Vlar (m)

Blue: Grall (m)

Yellow: Fash (f)

Green: Kith (m)

Pink: Beys (f)

**Twyn's Team**

White: Twyn

Red: Vlar (m)

Blue: Grall (m)

Yellow: Lorn (m)

Green: Yan (f)

Pink: Beys (f)

**Jax's Team**

White: Jax

Red: Brath (m)

Blue: Zol (f)

Yellow: Synn (m)

Green: Emd (m)

Pink: Trin (f) deceased; Prist (f)

These are some of the other major characters mentioned:

**Atir** - Threa's version of Zordon.  The first Imbera.

**D'Ez** - Atir's right hand man.  The flesh shaper who enabled Kim to live in Threa's dimension.

**Marg** - The Chief Healer under Kim, Jamie and Twyn.  D'Ez's student in shaping.

**Lris** - A descendant of Sahr & Rhee, cadet at the Academy, healer in training and Jamie's new matebond.

**Ming** - The current Chief Healer and Marg's son.

**Norzod** - the big bad guy of the Threan universe.  Zordon's evil twin.

**The Hart-Oliver Family Tree**

This is a genealogy chart for Kim and Tommy's descendants on Threa.  This will be updated at the end of the story, so no surprises are revealed before the end. : )   Lifebonds are denoted in parenthesis.  The numbering is standard for genealogy charts (my other hobby).

Kim & Tommy

            1. Jamie (Ayn)

                        2. Nahl (Isht)

                                    5. Wyn (Belth)

                                                8. Shan

                        3. Rill (Fahm)

                                    6. Kath (Skot)

                                                9. Mer 

                                                10. Dith (twins)

                        4. Twyn (?)

                                    7. Jax

Half the fun of creating a new universe is creating the people to fill it up and giving them lives to give it texture!


	8. Chapter 7

From The Ashes Chapter 7 

"What's up?" Tommy asked, entering the Command Center's main chamber, still trying to shake off the effects of the most God-awful teleport he'd ever endured.  Threan teleports _should_ have been able to handle human transportees better than _that_!  He wasn't sure his stomach would ever stop churning.  At least, changing clothes enabled him to settled down somewhat.  As per Bey's request, Vlar had found him one of the black, form-fitting  jumpsuits, and somehow, he had managed to find one with white trimmings.  

The head of security and the Imbera were bent over the long-range scanners.  Beys had made herself useful at the communications console.

"A large asteroid entering the system," Vlar reported in clipped, urgent tones.  "Its trajectory will bring it crashing into Threa."

"Are the Rangers going to destroy it or divert it?" Tommy wondered.

"Synn recommends diversion," Jax spoke up.  "The meteor shower from the resultant debris would still do considerable damage –not all the pieces would burn up in the outer atmosphere.

"I have managed to lock onto their signal; the interference is very unusual.  If I did not know better, I would say that the transmission was partially jammed," Beys muttered.  Even as she spoke, the Viewing Globe flickered to life.

_". . . picking up unusual readings on the surface of the asteroid,"_ Zol was saying.

_"What sort of readings?"_ Brath queried.  _"Emd, are the rockets ready?  If this thing gets any closer to Threa...."_

_"All I need to know is whether to go for deflection or blast it,"_ the Green Ranger said.

_"I am picking up traces of technology... or at least technological artifacts,"_ the Blue Ranger reported.  _"I cannot get a precise scan, but I would theorize that it could be debris from a crashed ship or...."_

_"I have a visual,"_ Synn announced.  _I see what looks like the remains of some buildings and . . . . By my first Ancestors!  Command Center, can you confirm . . . ?"_

Tommy and Jax turned towards the security chief, who had gone pale.

"Confirmed, Yellow Ranger; those are pieces of an older model Megazord."

Suddenly, Jax's eyes rolled back, and Tommy was hard pressed to catch him.

"What happened?" he asked as he lowered the Imbera to the floor.  He was reasonably certain this was no ordinary faint.

"He has 'gone out,'" Beys explained.  "He has sent his consciousness out... probably to investigate the wreckage."

"Foolish boy," Vlar grunted.  "Twyn has told him how dangerous it is to do that... how vulnerable it leaves him.  Only in the direst of circumstances...."

Even as the elder spoke, the young White Ranger began to come around.

"No... good... too far for me yet...." he stammered weakly.

From his words, Tommy received the impression that Jax wasn't fully trained in the use of his Imbera powers.  From everything that Jamie had told him, the Imbera had the potential to level planets and communicate halfway across the galaxy.

"Prist, you are close.  What can you sense?" Jax asked of his Pink Ranger.

Where the previous Pink Ranger had been a healer, her younger sister was an empath and telepath of the highest order.  She was more skilled at sending her consciousness out than Jax was.

In the Viewing Globe, the team in the Command Center watched as the Pink Ranger went limp in her seat.  She wasn't 'out' long.

_"Life form...."_ she began hesitantly.  _"... impression too confusing... cannot discern if alive or dead.  Some kind of psychic residue... very powerful traces...."_

_"We will have to go down and search to make certain nothing is down there,"_ Brath decided.

"Can the location be narrowed down?" Jax asked as he recovered further.  "If you can extract a section of the asteroid to be brought back for examination, the rest can be destroyed."

_"Prist, can you give me a general area to search?"_ Zol requested, and the two put their heads together.  They were silent for several moments.  Then . . . . _"It looks as if the traces are centered around the debris field. We should be able to carve out what we need with relative ease."_

_"Emd, power up the Solar Saber, and get to work,"_ Brath ordered.

"Take the pieces to our satellite base until we see what we have," Vlar recommended.  Then, he seemed to remember himself and shot Jax an apologetic look.

"Precisely what I would have said had I not been gathering my wits still," Jax responded dismissively, grateful for the experienced advice.  This was not the time to nurse injured pride.

Tommy turned away from the Viewing Globe and wandered over to Vlar's side.

"Any chance Jamie could see those scans?"

"I can make copies for him.  May I ask why?"

"Just a gut feeling... old Megazord debris on an asteroid... something tells me he'll be able to identify the wreckage."

*

And Tommy wasn't wrong.

Healer Ming had released Jamie from the infirmary, and he was comfortably ensconced in his private quarters.  Lris had things she needed to take care of, so she gratefully accepted Tommy's offer to spell her.

"I sincerely hope we either solve this mystery soon or my stomach mends quickly, or else Lris and I will be answering the demands of our bonding stitches or no," he joked soberly.

Tommy was learning that the urge to mate once a bond was formed was impossible to refuse.  Trying to do so often had serious health consequences.

"Is there any way a healer could work on you without forming a link with you?" Tommy asked.

"We could ask Lris, but I think it would make for imperfect healing.  The link puts the healer in tune with one's particular phsyiology, and my genetic quirks would only add to the difficulty."

"Before Lris gets back, I want you to take a look at these and tell me what you think," Tommy said, handing over the print outs.

Jamie's face paled instantly.

"Where did these come from?" the First Born choked out in a shaky voice.

"An asteroid that just made it's way into the solar system on a collision course with Threa."

"This cannot be possible!  Those..." Jamie pointed to a pair of fallen spires, "... are from Norzod's asteroid power plant.  Those..." He indicated the metal debris sticking up out of the rocky surface, "... are the remains of Megazord I.  This is where the first team of Rangers died... where Norzod was destroyed... where Mother died."

"Didn't you tell me that you sent _that_ asteroid into the heart of a sun?" Tommy recalled.

"I did.  My computer registered an explosion," Jamie insisted.  "It's remotely possible that something might have survived  –something small, but it would be unlikely to have escaped the gravitational pull of the star."

"But not totally impossible."

"Tommy, even if something had escaped, the surface of the surviving rock would have been nothing more than melted slag.  The debris would have been nothing be unrecognizable lumps."

"Were there any pictures or descriptions of the asteroid's surface before it was destroyed?"

"There was my report, but I did not get into minute detail about the conditions of the wreckage nor of the relative positions of the zord and the buildings.  This print out looks as if it could have been taken from an eyewitness account, but there were only three of us who were there to witness the end of the battle, and I am the only remaining survivor."

"What about the telemetry from your zord?"

Father and son looked up to see Twyn in the doorway, accompanied by the oldest Threan Tommy had ever seen.  She actually _looked_ old!

"Twyn!" Jamie exclaimed, immeasurably surprised to see his daughter.  Tommy and Vlar had not yet had time to tell him of her decision to join them.

"I came as quickly as I could," the caramel-haired woman said; it was obvious that it was taking every ounce of strength she possessed to be there.

"Thank you," was the heart-felt response.  Then, Jamie shifted his attention to the elder with her.  "Marg.  It has been much too long."

"But you have not changed much –still single-handedly depleting the infirmary's supply of bandages and ointments," the sharp-tongue woman noted.

"Marg was D'Ez's chief assistant," Jamie explained to Tommy.  "D'Ez was not a native Threan; he arrived with Atir, but he was a flesh shaper and taught Marg everything he knew and then some."

Tommy vaguely recalled Kim mentioning D'Ez as Alpha to Atir's Zordon, and he wondered if D'Ez was the mirror of their Zedd.  However, he was heartened to know that Marg was someone who had been around the Command Center since Kimberly's days.

"Let me have a look at your abdomen," Marg instructed.

"I cannot allow you," Jamie demurred, to which the retired healer raised an inquiring eyebrow.  "We think Trin was murdered because of her healer's link with Jax...."

"... and you do not want to endanger other healers," Marg concluded.  "I know.  Twyn told me what was going on.  While it is a prudent precaution, my hands have known you since you were an infant.  I will not need a deep healer's link to fix you up."

"That's great," Tommy sighed.  He really hated seeing Jamie in pain.

"I thought you and Vlar said my being injured served a purpose," Jamie began.

"So we leave the bandages on and don't tell anyone you're better," Tommy answered.

Tommy watched with interest as Marg laid her hands on Jamie's abdomen.  A soft glow spread out from her fingertips and enveloped Jamie's midsection.  The luminance then penetrated his body, and Tommy could see the flesh knitting before his very eyes.

"Of course, if it were not for D'Ez, I would never have been able to work on your mother or you," Marg remarked as she concluded the healing process.  "He taught me how to open your closed minds to form the necessary healing links; without that, healers would never have been able to work on you."

"I brought Marg not only because I thought she would be acceptable help for Father, but also because the lab that was raided was something she and D'Ez worked on," Twyn interjected.

"It was not so much a lab as an archive," Marg took up the tale.  "D'Ez conceived of it, but it was not built until after his disappearance.  As to what it contained: a wealth of medical information.  There had been a library for historical data and for technical schemata, but there was no repository for medical data.  There was an enormous amount of information due to all the work done on Kimberly to enable her to exist on Threa and on the changes wrought on Jamie to make him biologically compatible with Threans.  Plus, there was data on all the other Rangers, but primarily on all the Imberas."

"Which was why it was under the jurisdiction of the team healer, which was why Trin was so interested in investigating the break in," Tommy concluded.

"But who would want to steal medical data?" Twyn asked.

"Marg, do you think you could take a look at the archive and see what, if anything, is missing?" Tommy requested.

"I assume that whoever ransacked the lab also wiped the computers," Marg murmured with a frown.  "We had kept a computerized inventory."  She sighed and considered further.  "There are two possibilities.  One would be the updates that were supposed to be given to the Imbera on an annual basis.  The other would be my private journals.  Those would only cover the period I was in charge of the archives, though."

"You kept a copy of the inventory in your private journals?" Tommy asked skeptically.

Marg shrugged.  "I realize it could have been a huge security risk, but until the Command Center had been breached and D'Ez abducted, such was not a consideration, and even afterward I just could not break the habit."

"What about the Imbera's annual reports –or whatever?  Where would those be located?"

"On disks that are kept here in my quarters," Jamie said.  "Mother thought it best to keep those summaries as back up files and to keep them in a secure location outside the Command Center, just in case."

"How quickly can you get your journals, Marg?"

"Just point me to a teleporter."

"All right.  Jamie, you and Beys take a look at the historical and technical files to see if there was any visual record of your last battle with Norzod.  Marg, after you get your journals, you and I had better take a look at that lab.  Twyn, find those annual reports and see if you can compile a list of the medical archive information since Marg retired," Tommy directed.

No one objected to his taking command.

*

"Beys and I found nothing," Jamie reported as the investigative team gathered in the family quarters for dinner and discussion.  Vlar was able to join them at last and was brought up to date on their inquiries.  "There is no record of any visual telemetry from my zord during the final battle on file.  There are audio records, but they do not give a precise location of _anything_ on that asteriod."

Tommy appreciated how difficult it must have been for his son to listen to those recordings and relive his mother's final moments.

"Did anyone else have any better luck?"

"I'm afraid not," Tommy said glumly.

"The damage in the archive is extensive.  It will take some time to determine what, if anything, is missing," Marg added, "but to the good, my notes have proven to be excessively thorough."

"Twyn, did you come up with anything?" Tommy asked as gently as he could.  His granddaughter looked even more haunted by the day's activities than Jamie.

"I searched the annual reports and made a list; although, it is not very detailed," Twyn said, her tone bone weary.  "Trin only made one report before her death, and it mostly contained the results of team physicals.  She made a footnote that a more detailed report regarding my... injury would be forthcoming, but apparently she died before she made it."

"So, we are no closer to answering any of the questions we have formulated than we were earlier," Vlar summarized, feeling the gatherings' overall sense of dejection.

"There is one question we could possibly answer," Tommy said pointedly, and while he volunteered to be the 'bad guy,' he couldn't bring himself to ask Twyn the questions about her assault.

In the end, the question was self-evident.

"You want to know what happened –that night," Twyn gulped, her voice quavering.

"Not the end result, just the events leading up to it," Tommy clarified, trying to make this as easy as possible for her.

It was obvious that she did not wish to speak of it, but Twyn did not retreat from what she had to do.

"I was on the house grounds.  It was quite late at night," she began in clipped, wooden tones.  She closed her eyes as if to refuse to see the memories indelibly burned into her damaged brain.

"Of course it was night," Vlar chuckled.  "Since you were a little girl, it was your favorite time to go walking; you loved the peace and solitude...."

"And the occasional dance in the moonlight," Beys added, an impish twinkle in her eyes.

In spite of her pain, Twyn blushed, and Tommy wondered what was so special about dancing in the moonlight.  However, no explanation was forthcoming, and Twyn resumed her tale.

"The moon was high that night.  Perfect for dancing," she murmured self-consciously.  "I was alone and was not on my guard, but I cannot believe I was so caught up in the music of the night that I never heard him coming."

"Him?" Tommy pounced on the pronoun.

Twyn nodded.  "There was only one attacker.  Taller than I... broader... there seemed to be something not quite right about him –disproportionate.  He had very long arms and did not move like a Threan.  He lacked... grace.  However, he was exceptionally strong and swift.  He was dressed all in form fitting black; his facial features were not visible.  There was nothing with which to identify him.

"Our struggle was as fierce as it was brief.  It is all a blur now, but one moment I swear I had the best of him with my powers, and the next he had me pinned and was reaching into my skull –literally.

"This was not the touch of a flesh shaper or healer.  He reached inside me and my mind caught fire.  I could feel him destroying me little by little."

Twyn drew her knees up and tightened her arms around them.

"He was sifting around as if in search," she continued, her voice barely above a whisper.  "But he was not after thoughts; he was after my powers.  I did the only thing I could do.  Before he totally destroyed me, I sent the powers out to Jax.

"After that, I remember nothing until I woke up in the infirmary."

"I was the one who found Twyn," Vlar took up the tale.  "I knew she had gone out as was her wont, and when I saw the bird of flame –the flare of her powers– I knew something awful had happened.  I teleported... but it was already too late.  She was the only one in the glade when I arrived; her attacker had left her for dead."

That Twyn still wished she had died that night went unspoken but understood nonetheless.  For a few moments, no one said anything, and Twyn curled in on herself, shaking violently with her resurgent emotions.

"I know this was hard for you," Tommy began, reaching out to lay a hand on her shoulder, "but I'm glad you told us.  Your description of your attacker matches that of the guy I saw when Jamie was nearly kidnaped and that of what Prist was able to tell us of Trin's last observations about the archive raider."

"As you surmised, Tommy; all three events _are_ related," Jamie murmured.

"Someone wants the Imberas dead," Beys remarked.

"Or incapacitated," Marg added.

"But who?  And why?" Twyn demanded.

Questions to which no one had answers to yet.

"Who did you say was next in line to hold the Imbera powers?" Tommy asked suddenly.  "Thus far, the attackers have concentrated on past and present Imberas, but since Jax doesn't have a child yet, there has to be someone...."

"Shan, Wyn's daughter," Jamie answered.  "My great-granddaughter through Twyn's brother Nahl, but no one else –particularly Shan– knows about that.  I identified her potential at her birth."

"It would have to be either Shan or Kath," Twyn pointed out.  "They are the only two females in the bloodline thus far."

"Why does that make them more likely to have the potential?" Tommy asked.

"The Power thus far has passed from female to male and back since Grandmother held it.  It is as if it is maintaining a balance of some sort."

"We should find a way to bring Shan here without raising suspicions," Tommy recommended.

"Is she not safer away from the family complex?" Jamie ventured.  "Thus far, all the attacks have happened here or at the Command Center."

"True, but we cannot count on that to continue," Vlar said in support of Tommy.  "It would be better if she was here for us to keep under supervision."

"Marg, what is it?" Beys asked, noting the intent expression on the retired healer's face.  "You have been scowling like that since Twyn began talking."

All eyes turned to the elder.

"The description of Twyn's attacker is familiar to me somehow... as if I had seen someone who was built and moved like that.  But I cannot recall...." she sighed in frustration.

"It will come to you," Jamie assured her.

"Just keep trying," Tommy encouraged.  Maybe if they could narrow down what species the infiltrators were, they could make some headway with this mystery.  However, as he contemplated Marg's ruminations, he thought of a question he wished to put to Jamie –but later, after everyone else had gone.

*

"What did Norzod look like?" Tommy asked when he and his son were finally alone.

The query took Jamie completely by surprise.  "Norzod?  Ah, you are thinking about Marg's statement about recognizing the descriptions."

"It's a start," Tommy said with a shrug.

"I can only give you a rough description as I never saw him without his armor.  He was completely encased in it.  In body type, I would say he was slightly taller than you and quite a bit broader –a more human physiology than Threan."

"Was there anything awkward or disproportionate about him?"

"No... but there was something about him...he all but radiated power... strength....  Here, I believe I can pull up some unclassified footage of him," Jamie offered, crossing to the data terminal.  Tommy watched over his shoulder as he called up the requisite file.

"This is from one of the earliest battles between the Rangers and Norzod before his first defeat and he was injured.  After that, he rarely stepped onto the battlefield; normally sent his underlings to do his bidding."

The screen flickered to life, and a shiver of dread shuddered down Tommy's spine.

_Darth Vader has nothing on this guy!_ he mused grimly.  Even Lord Zedd did not strike the chord within him that Norzod did.  The gun-metal gray armor bristled with spines and spikes but no visible armaments.  There was something about the helmet, too, that made one feel as if the wearer was looking right through you, glaring balefully into the depths of one's soul, making the scrutinized feel as if nothing was secret or sacred any longer.  But more than the lethal menace in the metal suit, it was the way Norzod carried himself that conveyed his power, strength and sheer black-heartedness.  Tommy could not see him tolerating fools like Goldar or Rito or Elgar.  He had the sense that there were no second chances with this being.  Failure meant death.

_And Kim... my Kim... led the Rangers against this guy? _he gaped in silent astonishment.

"You see what I mean about the body type?" Jamie queried, interrupting Tommy's reflections.

It took the former White Ranger a moment to cast off the grip the images had on him.   However, he did see.  For all intents and purposes, Norzod could have been an ordinary human under the menacing metal.

"That's definitely not the type of body I glimpsed in your room," he admitted.

"Let us see if we can put together a composite sketch; the others can add their observations later," Jamie suggested, his fingers poised over the keyboard.

"I'd say he was Threan tall with human bulk," Tommy began, trying to put his observations in order.  "He makes me think of the NBA players who top seven feet but are too skinny."

At Jamie's prompting, the computer displayed the image.

"Lengthen the arms... there," Tommy directed, "and give the back of his head a more cone-like shape.  Uh huh... that's it."

"You said he was masked. So we have no facial features to input."

"No, but if we can do a profile angle, I can give a few more details," Tommy said.  "When he walked, he was sort of hunched over, like this upper body was too heavy for the rest of him, and I had the impression that if he had to get anywhere in a hurry, he'd walk with his hands like a gorilla does."

After Jamie made the last of the adjustments, he studied the silhouette on the screen.  "Marg is correct.  There is something familiar about this, but I cannot place it."

"One of Norzod's flunkies?" Tommy wondered.

"No, they were human-like in physical type, like their master," Jamie elaborated, "but I have the feeling that my recollection of this other being dates back to the days of the first war with Norzod."

"Don't push it tonight," Tommy advised.  "It'll come back to you."

Jamie nodded.  "You are right.  Plus, as much as I hate to admit it, I am rather worn out, in spite of Marg's work on me.  I had best get some sleep if I plan to visit the satellite base with you tomorrow –and do not try to talk me out of going."

Tommy had told the others that Jax had asked him to accompany the Rangers to the lunar base to examine the debris field on the asteroid.

"While it risks blowing your cover of being injured, I think we need to have you there.  After all, you're the only one who'd know if this was the real thing or not," Tommy said.

"Then I shall bid you good night."


	9. Chapter 8

From The Ashes

Chapter 8

_An asteroid... barren... supposedly devoid of life... yet, Tommy could see the towers of the solar collectors rising from the rocky surface.  There were buildings hidden beneath the rock –a huge complex, visible only because the concealing boulders had been blown away by a power blast._

_He had no idea where he was, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he knew this place.  It was as if he was watching something in the Viewing Globe but experiencing it through someone else's eyes at the same time.  And what he saw was shattering: the smoking ruins of a Megazord.  In that twisted wreckage, he glimpsed...._

_"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"_

_That cry of anguish brought Tommy to his knees.  It was a pain he had never had to experience during his days as a Ranger: the agony of losing a friend under his leadership.  However, he could relate to the wave of helplessness, self-blame, guilt and anger swelling like a great tidal wave in the wake of that all-encompassing despair. However, there was determination, too, and a sense of hope.  There was the knowledge that even his pain was buying him time... time in which he could save his son.  _

_Tommy realized that somehow, he was Kim, reliving her last moments._

_Then came the laughter: dark, malevolent, triumphant._

_He/she turned from the smoking debris to face her tormentor.  Norzod towered over her, his hulking armor dwarfing her in her Imbera armament.  As she confronted her arch nemesis, Kimberly felt no fear, only determination to save Jamie and avenge her friends.  _

_Tommy never felt more proud of her._

_Then, Norzod struck.  His energy blasts bombarded the White Ranger, driving her to her knees.  Tommy felt the power coiling within the petite frame, but she would not loose it.  She could not, so long as Jamie was in Norzod's power, and the fiend knew it.  What the fiend did not know as that Kim **was** utilizing a portion of her energy to seek out and free her son.  She had created the build up to disguise the minuscule output._

_Tommy felt Kim battered by Norzod's assault; he felt Kim's body succumbing... her strength waning....  The only thing keeping her going was the hope....  Then, exaltation at last!  Jamie was free!  But, Norzod mustn't find out –not yet.  _

_Taunts.  Bravado.  Merely words, but enough to keep Norzod interested in the unequal challenge._

_Broken.  Bleeding –inside and out.  Survival was no longer the issue.  Just hold on longer enough to effect the power transfer...._

_It finally came down to Norzod standing over her, gloating, pummeling her with his fists, glorying in the most primitive of emotions.  Let him lord it over her, because victory had just crept out of one of the bunkers._

_Jamie!_

_Behind her ruined mask, a smile spread over her face as she reached deep within herself to touch the Imbera powers.  They surged to life like a song within her, swelling until they could no longer be contained.  But it wasn't enough.  She reached out to the cosmos and found the familiar chord of power in the infinite.  She didn't try to fight against the vastness she had summoned; she surrendered herself to the power completely._

_Norzod stepped away as a fiery aura engulfed her.  She could feel the villain's emotions –especially his fear.  She continued to power up... to glow like a star.  The aura took a shape –a bird of fire... a phoenix rising from the ashes, reborn, immortal.  Then, she cast the power out, but not at Norzod as the fiend feared, but at Jamie.  The power and the knowledge were his now...._

_"Too much, Mother... too much.  It burns... I cannot...."_

_"You can... I'll help you...."_

_Mother and son worked to contain the cosmic might, but in the process, the asteroid bore the brunt of the energies.  Metal melted.  Rock turned to slag.  Yet, for all the destruction, in the bowl of a mammoth crater, a new Imbera is born.  The old one, finished._

_Norzod turned away to face the son.  He had been weakened by the transfer, clipped by the unleashed energy.  His supposedly imperious armor had been breached._

_He should have made certain his foe was vanquished before turning to the neophyte Imbera; Power Rangers were made of sterner stuff than he could have possibly known._

_Hard to breathe.  Harder still to move.  Have to move... Jamie still vulnerable.  A weapon... need a weapon...._

_A shard, a crystalline spire –from the demolished Megazord or Norzod's underground citadel?  No matter... _

_Keep his attention, Jamie... just a little bit longer... so proud of you...._

_So weak... too weak... no!  Can't give up yet.  A break... a crack in that damned tin can... there!_

_With the last of her strength, Kim thrust the spike through the ruined back of Norzod's armor._

_Die, you son of a bitch!  For Atir and D'Ez... for Rhee and Sahr... for Tommy and everyone I loved who was hurt when I chose to fight you...._

_So tired... must rest... Norzod's thoughts... black... foul...  Ha!  He can't believe a powerless old woman killed him.  Laughter.  Wait!  What's that?  Black aura... his powers... Jamie, contain it!  Destroy it!  Don't let his powers loose on the galaxy.  Don't worry about me, I'm beyond help... stop the wave... don't let me have died for nothing!_

_Don't grieve, Jamie.  Tommy... tell him for me... I love you...._

* * *

"Tommy, are you all right?" Jamie queried as he met up with his father in the shuttle bay; he had been absent from their quarters when Tommy woke up that morning.  "You look unwell."

"A monster headache... I didn't sleep very well," Tommy admitted.  "What a nightmare...."

"I, too, suffered from bad dreams... actually, bad memories," Jamie confessed.  "Seeing the footage from that asteroid and reviewing the telemetry from the Megazord... it brought back all that had happened on the asteroid when Mother died."

"Was the dream like you were inside Kim's head somehow?" Tommy asked.

"You had the same dream?" Jamie gasped.  Then he frowned.  "I believe I may be at fault for your uneasy sleep.  It appears I may have been broadcasting my own dream; I wonder if anyone else picked up on it."

"Was that really what happened it Kim?"

Jamie nodded.  "Those were the impressions I received through our parent bond."

Tommy was too shaken to comment further.  It was one thing to know the details, but another to actually feel... as if he'd actually been there....           

"Tommy?"

He hadn't realized that Jamie was still talking to him.

"What?"

"Is this truly necessary?" Jamie complained, gesturing to his wheel chair in disgust.  "I feel ridiculous."

"If we want to keep up the pretense that you're incapacitated, it is," Tommy reminded him.  "By the way, where is Lris?  I thought she'd be here to see you off."

Tommy had a good idea where Jamie had been that morning... probably not too long after waking up from that nightmare.

"I slipped off without waking her," his son said sheepishly, for all the world like an adolescent who'd been caught in some mischief. 

"Coward," Tommy snickered.

"Laugh if you want," Jamie retorted, "but something tells me you would have done the same thing with Mother."

"You got that right," Tommy grudgingly agreed.

"The shuttle is ready for boarding; the team has already teleported ahead," Beys announced as she disembarked from the space craft, having run the pre-flight check.

"I wish we could teleport," Tommy sighed.

"You are the one who said the shuttle was necessary to keep up appearances," the former Pink Ranger reminded him.

"Are you sure you would want to chance a teleport?" Jamie laughed.  "After your experience with Twyn's teleporters, I did not think you would ever want to go near a Threan teleporter again."

"Don't remind me," Tommy groaned, feeling a twinge of nausea at the memory of the rough ride.

"There you are!"

Both men halted at the surprisingly imperious declaration.  Jamie cringed.  Lris did not sound at all happy.

"Now, Lris...." Jamie began placatingly.  "We discussed this last night; you have to stay here...."

"I know that.  I just cannot believe you were going to sneak off without a word."  Her tone was more hurt than angry.  "Still, I would rather be going with you; after all, I _am_ a Ranger in training."

Jamie cupped her cheek affectionately, his eyes softening.  "You would be too much of a distraction."

Tommy blushed, having no doubts as to what sort of distraction his son meant.

"You should have come to my quarters sooner...."

"Ease up, you two; company," Tommy interjected, grateful from the reprieve, and he had to wonder if their friends had ever felt this uncomfortable when he and Kim had been mushy.  

What had caught his attention, were two figures hurrying across the hangar towards them.  One was a male Threan of indeterminate age; his coloring was dark, reminiscent of Jamie's.  His companion was the youngest Threan Tommy had yet seen.   Reed slender, bright wide brown eyes, blonde hair curling close around her head, she appeared to be a typical energetic, excited teenager.

"Nahl and Shan," Jamie informed him.

_Jamie's eldest son and his granddaughter –my great-great granddaughter,_ Tommy extrapolated.

"Father," Nahl greeted his sire; concern for his parent was written all over his face.  "We came as soon as Twyn contacted us.  Isht wanted to be here, but she is with her ailing grandsire, and Wyn and his lifebond are overseas....  Are you all right?  What happened?  Twyn gave us very few details."

"The 'what' will have to wait for my return, but I am as well as can be expected.  Given time, the healers expect me to recover fully."

"If your injuries are as serious as Twyn said, why are you taking a shuttle trip?" the fifteen year old Shan blurted out.  "Should you not be resting?"

"I should, but the Imbera cannot wait for me to recover; I am needed."

Tommy had to hide a smile; Shan looked as if she wanted to ask a million more questions, but Nahl quelled her with a look.  It was enough for him that Jamie had been summoned on Imbera business, but it was not sufficient for his granddaughter.  Tommy flashed Lris a teasing grin.

"You and Shan should get along just great."

The cadet shot him a questioning glance.

"That's the other reason we need to you stay behind," he improvised.  "It's important we keep Shan safe until this is all over.  We're counting on you to do that without raising suspicions."

Lris nodded her understanding, then she shot Jamie an accusing stare.  "You could have filled me in on this last night."

"I was... distracted," Jamie whispered back.  Then, he proceeded to introduce his liaison from the Academy.

"A cadet from the Academy _and_ of the House of Sahr...!" Shan gushed girlishly.  "Mer and Dith –my cousins– have just entered the Academy.  I want to go, too, someday, but those two will not answer any of my questions or take me to see the campus or...."

"I believe I could arrange something," Lris offered when she could get a word in edgewise.

"Thank you!" Shan squealed with delight.

"We really should be going," Tommy informed Jamie.  Both were trying not to laugh at Lris' long-suffering expression.

Jamie bid his family farewell and he and Tommy boarded the shuttle.

"A brilliant ploy," Jamie complimented him on the inspired means of distracting Lris.

"We may not think so if Shan wears out Lris' patience," Tommy cautioned.

"Good point."

"I noticed you didn't introduce me," Tommy observed.  "And Nahl seemed to have a lack of curiosity."

"To him, you fell under the heading of 'Imbera business - classified.'  I had hoped he would make the connection on his own the way Twyn did, but the main reason I did not volunteer an explanation was to spare you Shan's interrogation.  She would have questioned you to death."

"Thanks for saving my life," Tommy laughed.

"Do not thank me yet; I have only postponed the inevitable.  She is as tenacious as Mother was when her curiosity was aroused.  And believe me, Shan was plenty curious."

*

Once the shuttle was off the ground, Tommy was able to sit back and meditate, readying himself for what awaited them on the satellite base.  After the dream he had last night, he had a very uneasy feeling about what they'd find there.  However, he had to admit to feeling pleased that their ruse to get Shan under guard seemed to have come off without arousing undue interest.

_At least we have all the Imberas –or potential Imberas in one place_,he reflected with some amusement. 

_"Yourself included."_

_"I wondered where you've been,"_ Tommy mused with some concern.  The presence sounded very tired and very far away and hadn't surfaced at all the previous day.  _"And what do you mean myself included?"_

_"I include you because you're a potential Imbera, too –just as Kimberly was because of her connection to the Morphin' Grid."_

_"I thought the Imbera power could only be passed on to Kim's descendants."_

_"They're your descendants, too.  The power would recognize your genetic signature."_

_"Great, now I'm a target for Norzod, too,"_ Tommy grumbled, which elicited a laugh from his spectral contact.

_"I would think you'd be used to that by now, considering you've been in the bad guys' sights since Rita first got a hold of you."_

_"Maybe I should have a bull's-eye tattooed on my forehead,"_ he sighed resignedly.  _"You've been awfully quiet.  You okay?"_

_"It takes me longer to recoup my strength after each time I contact you," _the Voice explained, _"but thank you for your concern."_

_"You know, I think I've finally figured out who you are," _Tommy confessed.

_"Oh?"_

_"Since Jamie swears you can't be who I originally thought you were, I guess you have to be Atir."_

_"And how did you determine this?"_

_"Who else besides Kim would  a) be someone who had sacrificed much to keep Threa safe and b) know anything about Earth and the Morphin' Grid."_

_"I could be anybody; there are no secrets from the dead."_

_"Apparently there are; after all you don't know what Norzod is up to, just that he's back."_

His guide had no comment.

* * *

The hold where the asteroid chunk had been housed had been de-pressurized; the Rangers had wanted to take no risks in exposing the artifacts to atmosphere after their being in the vacuum of space for so long.  Tommy and Jamie had to don space suits to accompany the six Threan defenders.

"Is something wrong?" Tommy asked his son as they paused by an observation window outside the hold.  Jamie stared at the barren, debris-strewn vista in silence.

"I half expect to see myself kneeling out there, holding Mother's body," the one-time Imbera choked out at last.  "It's almost too perfect, Tommy."

"Are you absolutely certain that Norzod's asteroid was destroyed?" Tommy queried again, though they had covered this ground the other.  He recalled too many times they had thought a monster or machine destroyed only to have it rise again.

"As I said, I did not actually see the asteroid blow up," Jamie responded.  "The shields on Norzod's ship were too damaged to allow me to look at the sun for long.  However, I watched as long as I could... Norzod's asteroid had been trapped in the sun's gravitational pull, and the ship's telemetry recorded an explosion of great magnitude in the corona.  They detected no interference with the asteroid's trajectory.  I do not see how much could have survived or escaped from the star's pull."

"I don't either, but stranger things have happened," Tommy concurred.  "Come on.  The others are waiting on us."

Though he knew he was in an enclosed area, Tommy still felt very much as if he were drifting in space as he followed the Power team across the dense rock.  It was far too quiet, which made him antsy.  Something felt very wrong.  In a way, it reminded him of how he always felt when he walked past the bend in the path by the pond... the spot where Goldar ambushed him the first time Rita had stolen his powers.  He always felt cold inside... like someone was stepping on his grave.

_We are stepping on someone's grave: Kim's!_

The Rangers spread out to cover more ground, heading in the direction of the remains of the zord and the exposed portions of the underground buildings.  Jamie had continued forward in his chair, seemingly lost in painful memories.  Tommy, however, had paused atop a slight rise to survey the field before him.

_No wonder Jamie is so spooked; this is a perfect copy of what I saw in that dream last night.  All that's missing is the crater...._

"Jamie!" Tommy called out excitedly, eager to share his observation and put his son's anxiety at rest. 

"Over here, Tommy."

Tommy glanced towards an outcropping of rock to find Jamie trying futilely to maneuver his chair over the uneven surface.  Tommy grinned, knowing his son had to be muttering all sorts of curses –at least, that's what he'd be doing in his son's shoes.  As he headed towards Jamie, he stopped short, looking around sharply.  Something had caught his peripheral vision... a movement in the shadows....  He checked the location of Jax and the Rangers; they weren't close by.  Tommy turned to the gap in the craggy rocks where he had caught the flicker of motion.  His investigations turned up nothing, but he could have sworn he'd seen someone....

_One of the technicians,_ he tried telling himself, so why then did he feel so uneasy?  There had been something not quite right about that shadow....

"Can you help me get this contraption over this hump?" Jamie grumbled, distracting him from his musings.

"Sure," Tommy said absently, pushing musings aside for a moment.  Once he had Jamie up the slight incline, he asked, "Still think this is the real thing?"

"It cannot be, but yet, the more I see of it, the more I am unable to shake the feeling...."

"So where's the crater?"

"Crater?"

"The one we should be standing in –the one made when Kim transferred the power to you."

Later, Tommy would not have been able to say what exactly tipped him off.  There had been no sound... nothing visible.  There had been no outward indication save for a sudden chill which shuddered down his spine and raised the hackles on the back of his neck.

"Jamie –down!" Tommy shouted, pushing his son aside, sending him flying from his chair and sliding down the incline.  Seconds later, an explosion blew apart the crest of the rise, sending Tommy tumbling pell mell after his son.  The pair were pelted with rocks and debris, and Tommy flung himself across his son's prone body as the mini avalanche swept over them.

The blast drew the attention of the Rangers.  They rushed over and began digging the pair out even before the dust settled.

"First Born... Tommy... can you hear me!"

"Are they still alive?  Can the scanners...?"

Prist, can you 'feel' them...?"

"They live...."

"Thank goodness they had on space suits."

Even as the rescuers frantically worked to unbury the two, father and son were doing their part to extricate themselves.  It was not long before they blinked against the glare of the lights of the hangar bay.

"First Born, are you all right?" Brath queried, mindful of the Jamie's (supposed) injuries.

"I will be," Jamie mumbled, battered, bruised, disoriented but intact.  "If Tommy had not pushed me when he did.... Tommy?"

Tommy, staggered forward, shaking his head as if to clear it.  "Anybody get the number of the zord that stepped on me?"

"What happened?" the Red Ranger asked.

"...saw something... or someone... in the shadows," Tommy said groggily.  "I didn't get a good look...."

"Is that how you anticipated the explosion?" Jamie wondered.

"I just had a feeling....  Has anyone checked out ground zero?  What caused that explosion?"

Jamie laughed weakly.  "You sound just like Mother.  She could be barely conscious, and she would be more worried about what was going on in a battle than about herself.  But then, she always said she learned that from her team leaders."

"Emd, Synn and Zol have gone to investigate," Brath assured them.

"I guess this takes care of our missing crater," Tommy joked grimly.

"What do you mean?" the Red Ranger wondered.

"Tommy pointed out that while this was a close replica of Norzod's last battlefield, it was missing the crater created by the Imbera powers during the transfer from Mother to me," Jamie said.

"That explains why I could sense no aura of death," Prist spoke up, "but it does not account for the life I sensed earlier."

"Perhaps that was whoever set off the explosion," Brath ventured.

"Has this area been sealed off?" Jamie asked suddenly.

"The area should have been locked down at the moment the explosion happened –standard procedure."

Jamie nodded, then turned his attention back to more pressing questions.  "Why would anyone go to all the trouble of recreating Norzod's asteroid base?"

"I'm more worried about how they were able to do such a good job of it," Tommy commented.  

Before that line of questioning could be pursued, they were interrupted by the returning trio of Rangers.

"Find anything?" Brath queriend.

"This," Synn reported, and held out the twisted remains of a black metal box.

"Without analyzing it, we cannot be sure, but it could be some form of detonator," Zol said.

"It was in the crater... buried fairly deep, but it is impossible to know if it was placed there prior to our taking in the asteroid or if it became buried after the explosion," Emd added.

"If that's a detonator, was it on a timer?  Or was it set off at close range?" Tommy asked.

"And what was the purpose?" Jamie speculated.  "While the explosion did some damage, it was insufficient to damage the base."

"Unless it was meant for a specific target," Zol reasoned.

"Could this have been another attempt on the First Born's life?" Synn asked.

Brath shook his head.  "How could anyone have known the First Born would come to the satellite base –that was only agreed upon last night, and the device had to be here before we secured this section."

"Unless the shadow Tommy saw belonged to someone who stowed away on this hunk of rock and just planted it," Jamie speculated.

Tommy was gripped by a sudden dread. "Where's...."

"JAX!"


	10. Chapter 9

From The Ashes

Chapter 9                                                                            

Prist screamed, feeling her teammate's pain.  Grasping her midsection, she sank to her knees, crying out in agony.

"Where's Jax?" Brath demanded, looking around frantically.  No one had realized that the Imbera had not been with them as they unburied Jamie and Tommy.

Beyond the ruins of the control bunker came a flash of fire: the fiery bird image of the Imbera power unleashed.

"Go," Tommy ordered.  "Jamie and I'll see to Prist."

Without further argument, the four remaining Rangers dashed off to their leader's rescue.

"Jax," the Pink Ranger moaned, struggling to assert herself over the Imbera's overwhelming pain.  "Spirits, I am losing him... he fades from this world...."

"Hold onto him, Prist," Tommy commanded, grabbing the young woman's shoulders and shaking her soundly.  "Whatever you do, don't let him go.  It would be the death of us all."

Prist nodded and suddenly went limp in Tommy's arms.  If he had to guess, he'd say that she had sent her spirit out to anchor Jax's.

"As you love him, don't let him go," Tommy whispered fervently.

Jamie eyed him questioningly, but did not address the odd comment.  In stead, he said, "We are going to have to let a healer work on him, if his injury is as serious as we infer from Prist."

"Marg would be okay," Tommy concurred.

"I shall contact Vlar and have him teleport her here...."

"Not unless Jax can't be taken back in the shuttle.  It's too risky," Tommy asserted.  "Obviously, we're not alone up here."

Jamie grimly nodded in agreement.  "I do not believe I was the target this time...."

Suddenly, Tommy and Jamie were bombarded with mental images –Prist broadcasting the images she was picking up from Jax....

_Jax had wandered a ways from the others, drawn by an inexplicable something.  He was beyond the ruins; he saw no one, but could not shake the feeling that he was not alone._

_"Jax... my heart...."_

_Everything inside the Imbera went cold.  There was only one person who ever called him that: his beloved Trin.  He knew that the spirits of the deceased could reach out to the living; he had often wished Trin would visit him to offer her wise and patient counsel.  How he needed her wisdom!  How he needed to know that she understood and forgave him...._

_"Trin?" he called out softly," turning to follow the voice.  Even as he did so, he knew he should not be wandering off alone.  He should be investigating the explosion he had just heard.  Yet, if it was truly Trin who was calling to him...._

_Heart and mind could not agree._

_Like a sleepwalker, Jax clambered over another rise, following the phantom voice.  He had to know if he was truly hearing his lifebond's voice.  His quest took him farther and farther from his teammates.    _

_Then, he descended into a gully and saw...._

_"Trin?"_

_He pulled up short at the image flickering before him –an ephemeral vision of his lost love.  His heart ached as he looked on the familiar face; her large dark eyes gazed up at him, pleadingly.  His pulse leaped to see her sweet body draped in her favorite gauzy wrap that clung in all the right places and left little to the imagination._

_"Jax...." her lips formed his name, and she stretched translucent arms to him._

**_"Jax, no!"_**__

_The warning sounded inside his head, and it sounded exactly as the voice coming from the vision before him.  The fear he sensed gave him only a moment's pause; he took another step closer to the ghostly shape of his lost inamorata._

**_"To touch a spirit is to touch death!"_**__

_That, of course, was an old tale used to frighten children into ignoring malicious spirits that often lingered in the world and would beguile them into harm's way.  He paused yet again, but then continued.  After all, Trin would not harm him._

**_"It is a trap, my heart!"_**__

_There was no denying the force of that warning; it hit him like a physical blow, and it was the only thing that saved his life._

_He never saw the flaming blade that slashed out of the shadows.  The fiery metal bit deep through his midsection, but not as deep and deadly as had been intended, and Jax was able to bring his powers to bear briefly before succumbing to his injuries._

"Prist... dampen your thoughts!" Jamie groaned, struggling to break free of the mental onslaught.  He placed his hand on the unconscious Ranger's forehead and concentrated.   Somehow, the former Imbera got through to her, for the images ceased.

"That was intense," Tommy mumbled.

"And more than a little disturbing," Jamie said somberly.

"Someone knew _exactly_ how to tempt Jax with his heart's desire," Tommy concurred.

"We have got to get off this base as quickly as possible," Jamie murmured.  "Let us find the others."

With Tommy carrying Prist and Jamie abandoning the pretense of the wheel chair, they set out.  However, they hadn't ventured far when the other Rangers met them, Jax secured on a hover gurney.

"How bad?" Tommy asked.  There was room enough for another body on the cart, so he laid Prist next to Jax.

"Without a healer, he will not survive," the Blue Ranger said grimly, looking up from the med-kit scanner.  "It is a miracle he has survived this long."

"I strongly suspect that is Prist's doing," Jamie remarked.

"Can he be transported to a _secure_ area before a healer works on him?" Tommy asked.  The emphasis was not lost on the Red Ranger.

"We will have to chance it," he said, clearly not liking the additional delay but acknowledging the necessity.  "It will have to be by shuttle; he is in no shape for a teleport."

Tommy nodded.  "I'll get Jax to the Command Center infirmary and get Jamie to safety.  You guys concentrate on finding whoever did this."

* * *

_Oh man... wha' hit me? _Tommy groaned.__

_"Welcome back to the land of the living,"_ the Presence greeted him.  Aloud, the Presence said, "Stand by for docking, Command Center."

Tommy found himself in the most peculiar position of watching himself pilot the shuttle craft; he was not in control of his body at all.

_"What happened?"_ he demanded, fighting down the rising tide of panic swelling within him.

_"The short version is you were knocked unconscious...."_

_"By the explosion?"_

_"Yes, and I thought it best to keep you up and running during the crisis."_

_"You can do that?"_

_"And it isn't as easy as it looks.  The sooner you resume control, the better.  I'm losing energy fast."_

_"As soon as the shuttle's down."_

_"I'll fill you in then."_

_"Right."_  Tommy knew Atir –or whoever– needed her/his full concentration to land the shuttle.

*

By the time the landing gear was locked and the ramp extended, Tommy was once again in control of his body _and_ fully briefed on the situation.

"How's he doing?" Tommy asked as he joined Jamie in the hold with their patients.

"Very weak.  Let us get a call in to Marg now."

They hadn't wanted to radio from the orbital base or the shuttle because they couldn't be certain that the communications system hadn't been bugged.

"Already here," came a clipped response.

Father and son were surprised to see the aged healer hurrying into the hold.

"How did you know?" Tommy wondered.

Marg simply jerked a thumb towards the gangway even as she slipped into her healer's trance.

Hurrying up the ramp behind her were Twyn and Vlar.  Both were pale faced and anxious eyed.

"Father, how is he?" Twyn choked out, coming forward to embrace her parent as she could not hold her son.

"Alive, thanks to Prist, and all the better for Marg's presence," he assured her.  "How did you know?  Was it the parent bond?  I thought you could not...."

Twyn hung her head in pain and frustration.

"It was the parent bond, my friend," Vlar admitted softly.

"_You're_ Jax's father?" Tommy gasped and received a slow nod in confirmation.

"Explanations can wait until we get everyone to the infirmary," Twyn said, White Ranger habits superseding personal pain and maternal instinct for the moment.

* * *

Tommy, Jamie, Twyn and Vlar waited anxiously in the anteroom of the infirmary.  Marg had stabilized Jax in the shuttle hold then transferred him to the medical facility as soon as was possible.  Prist was still unconscious, linked to Jax, fighting to keep his spirit firmly with his body on Threa.

Nobody spoke, though there was much to say.  Twyn and Vlar sat huddled by Jamie as they waited for news.  Tommy found he could not sit and got up to pace.

_"Tommy?"_ It was the Presence.

_"You still here?  I thought you had to rest."_

_"I need to –desperately, but I had to see if I could help Prist."_

_"Will Jax be all right."_

_"He will live... but will he be all right?  That depends."_

_"On what?"_

_"On whether he can overcome his guilt and matebond with Prist."_

_"What?!?"_

_"Apparently, the bonding call surfaced just before Trin died.  Jax thought he'd been called to his lifebond, so he thought there was no way to answer the call once she died.  However, it turns out he was called to Prist, not her sister...."_

_"And he feels guilty –like he's betraying Trin."_

_"Right."_

_"Man, what a mess.  This is worse than a soap opera!"_

The Presence laughed weakly.

_"Hey, before you go, I had an idea,"_ Tommy said suddenly.  It was something he'd been considering since he'd been restored to full control of his body.

_"What is that?"_

_"What if you had something to anchor yourself to outside the Morphin' Grid?  You wouldn't have to expend as much energy as do now, would you?"_

_"Theoretically.  What did you have in mind?"_

_"Well... something like Zordon's timewarp, only mobile.  Since you were able to take over for me when I was knocked out, I wondered if you'd be able to use me for your anchor."_

There was a moment of stunned silence.

_"You want me to come into your mind... to share your mind and body?  Tommy, that's ridiculous... that's impossible... that's...."_

_"The perfect solution."_

_"You're not a telepath.  The only reason I can get through to you at all is because of your link to the Morphin' Grid.  Human brains are too rigid; they can't handle...."_

_"My brain's been mucked with so many times it has to be more flexible than an ordinary human brain.  I'm talking to you now, aren't I?"_

The point was irrefutable.

_"Tommy, I appreciate the offer, but do you know you're offering?  You'd have no privacy.  No thought would be sacred.  You have no training, so you'd have no way of closing off your mind to me.  Plus, the physical strain on you would be tremendous; you'd feel like you had a perpetual head cold with sinus pressure."_

_"I could deal with it.  The fact is, I need your help so I can help Jamie and the others.  If something happens to you, what then?"_

_"I... don't know, Tommy.  I'll have to think about it."_            

As his spectral assistant receded from his consciousness, Tommy thought he heard the words, _"You don't know how tempting it would be...."_

"Beys!"

Jamie's exclamation recalled Tommy to the here and now.  The white-haired former Ranger had been assisting the healer.

"Jax is out of danger, physically," she said carefully.

"But mentally...?" Twyn prompted.

"It is as if he has lost the will to live."

"Is he conscious yet?" Tommy asked.

"No, but...."

"Tell Marg to call me the moment he wakes up," he said.  To his companion's questioning gazes, he added, "I want to talk to him.  I think I know a way to help him."

Beys regarded him dubiously but nodded her assent.

Tommy had also noticed that as soon as Beys entered the room, Twyn had disengaged herself from Vlar and ducked her head guiltily.  Vlar looked pained, and Beys simply sighed.

"So, who wants to fill me in on what is going on between the three of you?" Jamie asked, also noting the by-play.  "Twyn, why did you never tell anyone that you had matebonded with Vlar?  How could you deny your son his father?"

Twyn flinched at the harshness of his tone.

"I think I can guess," Vlar said softly.  He looked to Twyn and tilted her head up so he could see her eyes.  "It was because of my heartbond with Beys, was it not?"

The former Imbera nodded, tears welling in her eyes.  When she spoke, her voice quavered.  "After what happened between Beys and Kith . . . ."

"Foolish girl," Beys murmured, coming forward to wrap her in a hug.  "Ah, young one, Kith was the one who could not share.  That was the source of the difficulty between us.  He did not want just a matebonding; he wanted a lifebonding, but he could not accept that my heart belonged to Vlar.  The two of us were willing to have him join us, but Kith would have none of it."

"I was afraid...."

". . . that matebonding with me would hurt my bond with Beys, so you tried to fight the call," Vlar concluded.  Twyn looked surprised at his insight.  "Why do you think Beys and I invited you to share a night with us?  I knew I had been called to you, and I told Beys."

"You would have been welcome," Beys added.

"Why did you not tell me?"

"We tried, but you did not wish to listen.  You were so intent on shutting me out... for a long time, I believed you did not wish the bond between us."

"I cannot think of anyone I would have rather had for the father of my child," Twyn admitted shyly.

"That is a relief," Beys snorted.

"Why is that?" Jamie wondered.

"Have you ever wondered why Vlar and I never lifebonded?"

"Has not everyone who knows you?"

"I could not lifebond with Beys," Vlar interjected.  "I gave myself to the mother of my child.  It only remains for her to accept me."

"What?  But how...?  Why...?" Twyn sputtered.

"Oh, Ancestors!  Will you just tell him you accept the bonding?" Beys said exasperatedly.  "The bond is true, whether you like it or not.  He nearly died when your mind was damaged.  He is the reason you survived that night –physically as well as mentally."

"Beys...." Vlar chided gently.  "This is a great deal for Twyn to get used to, and our son is clinging to a thread of life.  There will be time to sort this out later."

At that point, Jamie drifted away from the conversation, and Tommy followed him.

"And I thought I had problems with dating Kat even though I still loved Kim," Tommy sighed.

"There are times when I think the human approach to relationships and procreation is a lot less complicated than the Threan one."

"Amen to that."

* * *

From the infirmary, Tommy headed for the Command Center's labs.  There he found the Blue Ranger poking and prodding at the object they had found in the crater.  She had returned to examine their only find.

"Any luck figuring out what it is?" he asked, peering over the young woman's shoulder.

Zol looked up at Tommy with a touch of annoyance flashing in her green eyes and she brushed aside a stray lock of pale hair that had fallen out of her braid.

"Not really.  But I do know what it is not.  It is not the detonator which set off the explosion."

"Then what would be your best guess?"                           

"I hate guessing."

"I know another Blue Ranger very much like in you in that respect, but I trust his guesses better than anyone else's."

"It seems to be a transmitter of some sort."  As Zol spoke, she indicated several of the pieces she had removed from the black box.  

They meant nothing to Tommy, but he frowned.  "That's not good.  Any idea if it was able to send a signal out of the base?"

If someone had managed to send a homing signal from the base, there was no telling what was going to show up on the Rangers' doorstep!

"That is what confuses me.  If I am interpreting the data correctly, it was not broadcasting a signal outward but inward to some other location on the asteroid."

"That doesn't make sense," Tommy said helplessly.

"I know.  I was able to discover the signal signature by rechecking the scanners from the hangar bay, since this was no longer transmitting when we found it.  I have calculated the coordinates, and Brath and the others are investigating."

_"Zol, we have finished sweeping the area you pinpointed,"_ the Brath reported as if on cue.

"Did you find the receiver?" the Blue Ranger asked.

_"You are not going to believe what we dug up."_

The Red Ranger stepped out of the immediate focus of the Viewing Globe to allow his teammate to see what they had unearthed.

It was an oblong box, shiny and black, with no markings or visible openings.  It couldn't have been more than two feet wide and was roughly six feet long.

"What is that?" Tommy queried.

"It looks like a life support pod," Zol murmured.

_"That was our assumption, too,"_ Brath responded.

"Can you locate the control grid?  Is it occupied?"

_"It is heavy enough to contain a body,"_ the Green Ranger grunted.

"_This could be the source of the life readings that Prist detected,"_ Synn supplied.

_"It looks like the restoration mechanism is damaged,"_ Brath related.

"Is there any way of finding out who's in there without opening that thing up?" Tommy asked.

"Yes, but not on the satellite base; it would have to be brought back here.  The scanning technology is more sophisticated," Zol said.

_"We'll transport it in a containment field directly to your lab,"_ Brath informed Zol.

"Ready when you are," the Blue Ranger confirmed.

"I have a really bad feeling about this," Tommy murmured, but no one paid him any heed.


	11. Chapter 10

From The Ashes

Chapter 10

"A life support pod?" Jamie reiterated when Tommy filled him in on the latest developments.  The two were in the family quarters having a bite to eat.

"That's what the others said."

Jamie sighed.  "This becomes more and more confusing.  What is Norzod up to?  First the asteroid –did he not consider that I would realize it could not have been the actual site of the last battle?"

"I think he did," Tommy said.  "You weren't supposed to be here when the asteroid arrived, remember?  Someone tried to kidnap you."

"Good point," Jamie murmured thoughtfully.  "Then why continue with the plan –whatever it may be?"

"Maybe it's running on auto-pilot or something," Tommy speculated.

"That seems unusually haphazard for Norzod.  He was always meticulous in the execution of his schemes."

"Maybe Norzod isn't running the show yet.  His flunkies could be acting on his set orders and don't know how to change the script."

"Could the Rangers determine if anyone was in the pod?"

"They were pretty sure someone was, but they're not going to open it until they know exactly what's in there."

"I wonder if we have any record of Norzod's bio patterns," Jamie pondered.

"That's all we'd need is to have Norzod come jumping out of that tube in the middle of the Command Center," Tommy grimaced.

"Perhaps Marg would know," the one-time Imbera said.

"She's still with Jax, isn't she?" Tommy asked.

"She should be.  When we left, Jax was out of immediate danger, but Marg wasn't satisfied with his condition."  As Jamie pushed his chair away from the table, he paused.  "Tommy, I think it is time to tell the others about your warning."

"I think you're right."

*

By unspoken agreement, they proceeded to Jax's room in the infirmary in search of the healer to ask their question; however, when they arrived, they discovered that Marg had been called away.  The only one at Jax's bedside was a sorely depleted Prist.

Jamie favored her with a kind smile.  "You should rest; you wore yourself out trying to hold his spirit here."

"He did not wish to remain with us.  He fought and fought –to return to my sister," the Pink Ranger sighed exhaustedly.  "I am not certain I did the right thing in keeping him here."

"Trust me, young one, you did.  Jax may not think so at the moment, but you did the right thing for Threa.  Now, go...."

"I cannot.  Marg said he is not to be left alone," she protested in spite of her exhaustion and strain.

That was something Tommy could relate to, and he found himself giving the advice his friends had always given to him in such situations. "You're not going to do him any good if you're worn out.  Jamie and I will sit with him, and if anything should change, we'll call you."

Reluctantly, Prist gave in and took her leave.  Tommy and Jamie took up seats on either side of the bed.

"He doesn't look like he's been hurt at all," Tommy marveled.  "Your healers are amazing.  Even with our accelerated recuperative abilities as Rangers, we still had to struggle with recovering from our injuries."

"Threans had their healers long before we had medicine.  We developed science when our ancestors went through generations without the healers and shapers," Jamie explained.

"The healers seem to be able to fix just about anything; why couldn't they fix whatever's wrong with Twyn?"

"I am not certain.  To be honest, I have always thought that the physical damage had been repaired."

"You mean that Twyn's telepathic abilities are gone because of some sort of mental block?" Tommy wondered.

"Knowing now about Vlar, it makes sense," Jamie said.  "Without her capacity to maintain a bond, Twyn would be able to free Vlar so he could turn to Beys."

"But Vlar said he was still lifebound to Twyn...."

"Which would be impossible if Twyn's telepathic abilities were truly gone!" Jamie concluded, then sighed sadly.  "Poor confused child!"

"Is Twyn strong-willed enough to keep up the pretense for this long?"

"Oh, yes," Tommy's son said without even having to consider.  "You have to admit, she comes from a family of very strong-willed individuals.  I have it on good authority that her paternal grandfather was exceptionally stubborn."

The affectionate jibe made Tommy smile.  "So was her paternal grandmother, for that matter."

"So what is it that holds Jax so strongly that he would rather cling to death than to life?" Jamie mused.  "I know that when one loses a lifebond, it is enough to make you want to die as well.  Only the strong survive the death of their other selves.  Jax should have been strong enough –the fact that he was able to assume the Imbera powers is proof of his mental fortitude."

Tommy didn't answer right away; he was distracted by a faint sound –from Jax.  Observing his great-grandson more closely, he noticed small movements, and he smiled.  Jax was awake and feigning sleep.  Tommy wondered how long he'd been conscious.

The other reason he remained silent was because he had a lot more in common with Jax than Jamie could realize.  Wasn't he as guilty of clinging to a lost love as Jax?  Kim was dead, yet he could not let her go; he was still hoping against hope that there would be some way for her to come back to him.

"I think it's different when you haven't had a chance to really be with the one you love," Tommy essayed at last.  "You had a lifetime with Ayn; you had time to love and laugh and live and build memories to get you through when she was gone.  When you've only been together a short time, you don't have those things.  The emptiness seems greater because there's nothing to help fill it.  Some memories, sure, but mostly regrets and hopeless wishes  --wondering and longing and thinking of what could have been, fearing that you'll never feel ever again the way you did with the one you loved."

"I can understand that, Tommy, but if _you_ do not continue to live, then your lifebond is truly gone.  Your love and memories keep her spirit alive after the body is gone.  There are many left behind who love and remember her, but she was a part of _you._"

"What if you feel guilty about going on without her?  What if you feel like you're betraying the one you loved by carrying on and maybe finding someone new?"  Tommy had to pause to consider whether he was thinking of Jax and Prist here or was he thinking of himself, Kim and Kat?

"It would be a very selfish lifebond indeed who would begrudge you another chance at happiness," Jamie replied.  "I know that Ayn rejoices that I have someone in my life again.  She knows I will never cease to love her, but she will take comfort in knowing I am not alone, that there is someone who can hold me and love me as she cannot.  The heart has room to hold all the loves in one's life."

There was wisdom in Jamie's words, but Tommy found it hard to accept –to believe....

"Of course, it has taken me a very long time to realize this –and even longer to accept it," Jamie concluded with a wry smile.

Which wasn't very reassuring –in his case or Jax's.  Especially Jax's.  Time was something Jax didn't have right now.

Before they could pursue the topic further, Jamie went rigid in his chair, and his eyes rolled back as if he was going to pass out.

"Jamie!" Tommy yelped in alarm, bolting out of his seat to help his son.

"I am –all right.  Just out of practice," Jamie waved him away.  "Vlar just contacted me.  They want me to come to the lab."

Tommy was torn; he wanted to go to the lab, but he needed to talk to his great grandson, too.

"Go on," he decided.  "I'll stay with Jax until you can send someone to take over."

With a nod, Jamie hurried from the room.

Tommy resumed his seat next to Jax and said, "You can stop pretending now; your grandfather's gone."

For a moment, the current Imbera didn't move.  Then, one eye opened and regarded Tommy suspiciously.

"How did you know when grandfather did not?" Jax demanded, his meaning obvious to his ancestor.

"I'm still young enough to be pulling this on my mom," Tommy said with a laugh. He saw so much of himself in this descendant of his!  "How long had you been listening?"

"The full extent of your conversation."

Which meant he had to have been awake when Prist was here.

"As much as I hate to admit it, your grandfather is right.  You can't stop living even though you've lost someone," Tommy said gently, feeling an inner pang of discomfort for doing so.

"Grandfather says he understands what it is like, but there is no way he can.  His lifebond was not kidnaped and murdered!" Jax blurted out bitterly.

"Maybe not, but the only family he had ever known was," Tommy pointed out, "His mother, his aunts and uncles... and he could do nothing to save them."  He could see that the thought had never occurred to the young Imbera.  He decided to cut to the chase.  "Tell me something.  Which is stronger: your grief at losing Trin or your guilt?"

"Guilt?"

"Guilt for not being able to save her.  Guilt for betraying her with another."

His words made Jamie sit up.  "How did you know...?"

"Because I've been through a lot of the same things you have –or things very similar.  I loved Kimberly more than anything –and at seventeen, that's a pretty scary realization.  When Lord Zedd kidnaped her and drained her powers, I felt as if I'd failed to protect her –that it was my fault she 'died.'  Don't let anyone tell you different –losing your powers is a kind of death.

"I lost her again when Atir brought her here –I never even knew...."

"Atir brought her...?  Your Kimberly was –you are my...?" Jax gasped as he realized he was talking to a man who had been more legend than reality to him.

Tommy nodded.  "Kim tried to sever our bond --because she knew we could never be together ever again.  When she did that, it felt like someone had ripped out my heart and soul.  I wasn't sure I could go on without her.  And later, when I learned the reason for that letter, it killed me to know that one afternoon was all I'd ever be able to have.  Then I lost her a final time –when Norzod killed her.  Once again, I couldn't be there to protect her –to save her.  Sound familiar?"

"What about betrayal?" Jax challenged mutinously.

"My lifebond was still alive but I turned to another woman –Kat, a dear friend of hers– when I'd thought I'd lost her.  And all the time I was with Kat, a part of me felt like I was betraying Kim –even after Kim told me it was all right to find someone else."  When his great-grandson made no comment, Tommy prodded.  "You feel like you betrayed Trin because you were called to matebond with Prist."

"How...?  We have told no one...." Jax sputtered.

"A little voice told me."  A wry smile accompanied that admission.

"The call hit the night Trin vanished," Jax confessed anguishedly.  "At first, I thought that Trin was the source; we had been hoping for so long.  Of all the things Trin and I shared, a child was what she wanted most.

"My senses were blinded by my body's urges.  I did not feel Trin's fear and pain until it was too late."  Tears streamed down his cheeks, releasing the pain he had buried inside him.  "It was only after I felt Trin's death that I realized that it had not been her I had been drawn to but to her sister."

"You know, there is someone who knows _exactly_ how you feel," Tommy said kindly.  Jax's disbelieving gaze prompted him to elucidate.  "Prist."

"Prist?"

"Siblings share some kind of bond, don't they?  She was mate-called to her sister's lifebond, and then her sister was murdered."

"I had not considered...."

"Like you, she's struggling with her loss and pain and guilt –and a bond denied."

"How can we consummate the bond?  How can we both dishonor Trin so?" was the anguished demand.

"As I understand it, you can't _not_ consummate the bond.  Jamie says resisting makes you sick.  As for dishonoring Trin, how would she have reacted had she lived?  Would she have been angry?  Understanding?  She loved you both, didn't she?"

"Very much so.  The reason Prist was chosen as the new Pink Ranger was because those were Trin's wishes.  She always said the only person she trusted after herself to see to my well being was her sister."

"And Trin was a healer; she'd understand better than anyone why you and Prist were called together.  I don't know what forces control matebondings, but for some reason nature decided Prist was a better mother for the next Imbera.  I think Trin would have accepted that.  She may have been relieved that if it couldn't be her, it was her sister.

"Jax, all your feelings are important here, but you've got another thing to think about: your duty.  Unlike the other Rangers, your powers can only go to your child.  You _have_ to have a kid.  Also, the team needs its Imbera right now.  There's some strange stuff going on with that asteroid.  Someone's been attacking Imberas. And I'm here because Norzod might not be as dead as you believe.  You're needed, White Ranger."

"Then Threa is doomed," Jax declared gloomily.

"Why?" Tommy was unable to keep the incredulity out of his strangled exclamation.

"Because I do not know how to use my powers."

* * *

_How could he not know how to use his powers?_ Tommy wondered as he made his way to the laboratory.  Prist had returned after a too-brief nap, and knowing the two had a lot to discuss, he decided to go find Jamie and Vlar.  However, the Imbera's last statement haunted him.

Jax had spent his entire life training as a Ranger; he'd always known he was destined to be the next Imbera.  Tommy and his friends had none of those advantages when they first received their Power Coins, yet the first time they morphed, they had known instinctively how to use their powers.

_"That's because the Morphin' Grid holds not only the Power but the knowledge of how to use it,"_ the Presence spoke up.  _"The Imbera powers aren't like that.  There is no power grid; those powers were pulled directly from the cosmos.  Whoever holds them at any given moment is the respository, not just the conduit._

_"That's why it's so important that the powers be transferred before an Imbera dies.  If an Imbera dies while holding the power, they revert back to the fabric of the universe.  It would take the Sorcerors of Pulsare who first gathered them a lifetime to summon them once again.  Not only must an Imbera transfer the raw power, he or she must transfer their knowledge of how to use them as well."_

_"Twyn must not have been able to finish the transfer before her mind was shut down,"_ Tommy reasoned –a transfer she wouldn't be able to complete unless her telepathic abilities resurfaced, and there was no telling if Jamie's speculations had any merit.  _"Could Twyn train Jax the 'old fashioned way?'"_

_"It could be done; it's how the first Imbera learned to use them, but that takes time."_

_"Which seems to be in short supply around here," _Tommy groused.  Then another idea occurred to him.  _"What about Jamie?"_

_"It's hard to say.  He doesn't have natural Threan telepathic abilites."_

_"He can still receive telepathic messages."_

_"But can he send them –especially to someone he doesn't have direct bond with?"_

_"I don't know, but couldn't Jax link his mind to Jamie's and then Jamie gives him the information?"_

_"Jamie would not have the knowledge and experience Twyn had earned, but his own experiences were considerable," _the Presence mused speculatively.  _"It could work."_

Tommy felt rather pleased with himself.  It finally felt as if he had contributed something concrete to the present situation.

_"You've given more than you know," _the Presence assured him.  _"You saved Jamie's life; you roused Twyn out of her depression, and back there with Jax, you were great.  You knew just what to say to get through to him." _

_"We have Trini to thank for that; she was always really good at figuring out how to reach people.  I kept thinking, 'how would Trini handle this?'"_ he admitted.  _"But, I felt like such a hypocrite telling Jax to let Trin go and move on when I haven't done any of those things."_

_"It's different for you, Tommy.  For one thing, you're not trying to hold back Mother Nature.  For another, the fate of a world isn't resting on your shoulders.  As Jamie said, acceptance takes time.  You will be able to move on one day,"_ said the Presence kindly.  _"What you did wasn't so much getting Jax to move on as it was giving him an out he could accept which will get him on the road to healing his heart."_

_"What was that?"_

_"You reminded him of his duty.  If nothing else, Jax knows Trin would never allow him to shirk his duty to Threa, to the Rangers or to her sister."_

*

Tommy rubbed his temples as he entered the observation deck above Zol's lab; this last mental conversation had given him a killer headache, and he had the feeling that wasn't a good thing for his companion.  It was almost like it was more difficult for him/her to get through to him, so he/she had to 'push' harder.

He found Jamie and Vlar seated at the control console monitoring the data coming in from the lab proper.  He noted that the four Rangers not in the infirmary were busy down below.

"How is Jax?" Jamie asked anxiously.

"Better, I think," Tommy reported as he joined the duo.  "I got him to talk to me a little."

"No small accomplishment; he is as reluctant to share his feelings and concerns as his mother," Vlar snorted.

_And his great-grandfather!_ Tommy reflected.  Kim had a full-time job getting him not to keep things bottled up during their Ranger careers.  "Are they having any luck?"

"No," Jamie sighed in frustration.  "The pod's shielding is impenetrable.  Zol cannot pick up any readings."

"Synn has been attempting to repair the reactivation mechanism," Vlar added, "but he is having difficulty isolating the damage."

"I thought we didn't want to open the pod without knowing what's inside first," Tommy said.

"He is repairing the computer so we can see what data it contains.  It has to have all the vital information on the occupant in order to revive him," Jamie explained.

"And maybe repairing the controls will disengage the shield," Vlar speculated.

"What are Emd and Brath doing?" Tommy asked.  The Green and Red Rangers were spraying the black capsule with a silver mist.

"That is an experimental concoction of Zol's.  Theoretically, it breaks down the opacity of any object, rendering it transparent," the security chief related.

_"I believe I have been able to access the computer's data base,"_ Synn announced.  _"I will begin downloading the information then start work on the shield."_

"Are life support pods usually this heavily shielded?" Tommy queried.

"The ones installed on the zords are.  They are designed to get us home from just about anywhere in space," Jamie said.

"The data is coming up now," Vlar announced, and the three men turned their attention to the computer screen.

"These do not look like Threan bio-patterns," Jamie noted, frowing.

_"I am running a search to see if we can find a correlating pattern in our database,"_ Zol radioed, her puzzlement equally evident.  It took a few moments, but the Blue Ranger soon reported, _"We have a match.  Whoever is in the pod is human."_

"Human?  But how?" Tommy murmured.  "There are only a handful of humans who know about this dimension, and they're all former Rangers."

"And this pod is of our technology, not your Eltarian brand," Vlar added.

"Synn, check the frequency on the shield; see if you can isolate a life support field similar to the one Tommy is using," Jamie recommended.  To Tommy and Vlar, he added, "If the occupant is human, he would need such a shield to survive once the pod is opened.

_"Good suggestion, but no shield resembling Tommy's; however, I am detecting an unusual form of radiation... it appears that is what has infiltrated and augmented the pod's shields.  Zol, run another comparison...."_

"Are you sure it could not be another visitor from Earth?" Jamie asked.

"It's not likely.  With the Power Chamber destroyed, Earth doesn't have the technology, but there are other human settlements in our dimension," Tommy said, thinking of Andros, the Red Ranger from KO-35.

_"I'm finding an exact bio-pattern match in our database!"_ Zol exclaimed.

"Have you guys had human visitors besides me and Kim?" Tommy wondered.

"To our knowledge, no other humans have been to Threa," Jamie replied.  "We have other neighbors in our galaxy, but we do not know if they have had any contact with your dimension."

"Threans believed we were alone in the universe until Norzod came and Atir recruited the first team of Rangers," Vlar added.

"Much like with us on Earth," Tommy commented.

"It is possible that Atir had contacted other humans before reaching Mother," Jamie mused.

_"Synn, we have to have that shield down,"_ Zol's voice came over the speakers; the Blue Ranger sounded rather strained.  _"Because if we believe the data in the pod's computer...."_

_"Zol, look!  Your spray is working!"_ Brath interrupted excitedly.

All eyes turned to the life pod.  The obsidian capsule had been thoroughly coated in the silvery substance.  Now the metallic sheen appeared to be melting away like ice on a summer's day, all the color trickling away, revealing a web of circuitry encasing the now-transparent construct.  And beneath the intertwined strands was a body –a small, slender shape criss-crossed with angry red lacerations and patches of charred clothing and burned flesh.

"No... it can't be...." Jamie gasped even before the camera tightened its focus on the fact of the occupant.

Tommy sank numbly into a chair.

It was the face of an old woman marred by wounds and bruises, but it was unmistakably....

"Kim!"


	12. Chapter 11

From The Ashes

Chapter 11

For a moment, both father and son were too dazed to say anything, then Jamie managed hoarsely, "It is her."

"It can't be," Tommy insisted.  He turned helplessly to Vlar.  "Can it?"

"That depends.  Jamie, did you seal your mother in one of the life support pods when you buried her?" Vlar asked, hoping to get a coherent response from his bewildered friend.

"Y-yes," Jamie stammered.  "There was nothing else to use as a coffin; I did not wan to leave her just laying out in the open."  He turned to Tommy and clutched his arm.  "It has to be Mother.  No one else saw her corpse to be able to duplicate it so exactly –not even Norzod."

"A zord's life pod is designed to survive the extreme conditions of space.  Absolute cold, radiation –maybe not a trip through a star's core but certainly a skim through the corona," Vlar said.  "Let us not get ahead of ourselves.  Zol will run a variety of scans –bio-signatures, brainwave, tissue, bone and blood samples....  We have enough data on the Great Imbera to insure that everything is an exact match."

"You'll have to open the capsule to take the samples," Tommy noted.

"If Synn can get those shields down, Zol will be able to breach the outer casing without opening it," the security chief informed him.

* 

It would be several hours before Zol would have the results, so Tommy and Jamie returned to the family quarters, ostensibly to rest before dinner, but neither one could settle down.  They were too keyed up about this latest development.  They attempted dinner, but neither had much of an appetite.  Their food went untouched.

"They will need to consult Marg's archive to obtain all the pertinent records on Mother," Jamie ventured at last.

"I hope Marg can find them," Tommy remarked.  "That place still is a mess after the break-in."

The two fell into another lengthy silence.  Both could focus only on the possibilities, but neither wanted to give voice to their thoughts on the matter.

"So –um– you and Lris –completed your bond?" Tommy asked awkwardly, trying to find _anything_ else to talk about.

"Yes."

"What happened to the wedding plans?  Or did you decide not to...?"

"When this crisis is over, Lris and I will formally declare our lifebond," Jamie confirmed.  Then he cocked a lopsided smile.  "Someday in the not too distant future, you will be a grandfather again."

The thought was a little unnerving, causing Tommy to mutter, "I'm too young to be a grandfather."

"Tell me something," Jamie went on.  "When you spoke with Jax, did he confide in you about his matebonding?"

Tommy answered his son evasively,"More or less."

"The bond was not with Trin, was it?" was the query.  "It has been half a turn of seasons since Trin died; the severed bond should have either dissipated or claimed Jax's life.  The bond is still calling to him."

"Let's just say that he has a lot of issues with the bond."  He didn't want to say anything until Jax made his decision, but that brought up the most troubling aspect of their conversation.  "He did say that he didn't know how to use his powers."

"What?"

"I'm guessing Twyn wasn't able to finish the transfer before her mind was shut down."

"That would explain a great deal; I could not understand why he was having such difficulty with even the simplest of tasks –like sending his thoughts out over great distances."  The former Imbera shook his head in disbelief.  "Why did he not say anything?  I could have tried to link with him or Twyn could have begun training sessions."

"Can you still link with him?  Jax needs whatever guidance he can get."

Jamie frowned.  "I do not know.  Parent to child is easier for this type of linkage, but that is not the complication I fear.  It is the matebond.  Nothing can be done until Jax answers the bonding; if anyone was to intrude on an open bond...."

"You could wind up bonding to his mate?" Tommy essayed.

"Or he could be bonded to Lris.  The newly matebonded are very vulnerable psychically.  Until a child is conceived the bond is not considered closed.  The risks of me attempting to link with Jax right now are great."

"Then Twyn had better start a crash course in Imbera 101," was Tommy's sober reflection.

*

The moon was on the rise when the two found themselves back in the Command Center labs.  They simply could not stay away any longer.  They did their best not to get in the way as they anxiously awaited the Blue Ranger's results.  The Green Ranger noticed their arrival and headed towards them.

"Vlar had me run a check on the solar and meteor activity in the Atler System," Emd reported, handing Jamie a copy of the results.  "Also, I have computed the possible trajectories for the pod away from the inner system."

"Where is Vlar?" Jamie asked distractedly as he scanned over the contents of the printout.

"Long range sensors have picked up activity on the fringes of the solar system.  He and Brath are investigating."

The Green Ranger left them to pursue the data.

"What did he find?" asked Tommy, peering over his son's shoulder even though he couldn't read Threan.

"That it is possible for the pod to have survived," Jamie answered in disbelief.  Before Tommy could ask the obvious question, his son volunteered the information.  "There was a great deal of solar activity: solar flares, solar winds –all within a day of my departure.  When the asteroid exploded, much of the debris was pushed out away from the star.  The chances are high that the pod was among the flotsam not caught in the gravitational pull."

"Jamie, Kim's been dead for centuries; that body looked battle scarred, not decomposed," Tommy pointed out, trying to be the voice of reason when his heart wanted to be anything but reasonable.

"Granted, but the suspension field is still intact," Jamie countered.  "When I placed Mother in the pod, the life support system automatically cycled when the locks engaged –which occurred when the lid was closed.

"If I had been able to get Mother into the pod before she died, she could have been returned to Threa and healed."

Tommy put a reassuring hand on Jamie's shoulder.  "You had no choice; you had to stop Norzod."

"Obviously, I succeeded in neither task," Jamie said bitterly.

Tommy had no answer for him.  Instead, he asked, "What about how long it took for the pod to get here?  It didn't take you two and a half centuries to get home."

"The ship I escaped in had supra-light drive; the pod only has sublight propulsion.  While made to withstand the rigors of space, it was only intended to travel short distances."

"Any indication of what that unusual radiation was that Synn detected?" Tommy wondered, getting back to the data.

"Hmm... one possible route has it passing through the Siseneg Nebula."  Jamie paused thoughtfully.  "According to the information Atir and D'Ez provided the original team of Rangers, scientists from Taramu used the nebula for much of their weapons testing.  Though it has been a millennium since there was any such activity, the after affects remain.  According to Synn, Siseneg radiation has affected the controls of the pod –it has mutated the shield configuration.  He says he should be able to compensate and get the shields down."

"We can't forget that the pod didn't make it here on its own.  Someone planted it on that asteroid.  There's no telling what's been done to it," Tommy cautioned.  "Are there any inhabited planets in the Atler System?  Could someone have tampered with the pod?"

"There is one planet, but it is on the outer reaches of the system.  According to Atir's records, it is a harsh, forbidding world –the inhabitants war-like and more concerned with their own battles and survival than with the universe beyond."

At that point, a somber looking Blue Ranger approached.  Jamie regarded her with anxious eyes.

"We were able to make a small hole in the cover of the pod so we could gather blood and tissue samples," she began.  "We scanned for brain waves, but in this dormant state, there is not much to pick up except for baseline readings.  Bio-scans, x-rays, blood and tissue analysis –everything confirms that this woman is Kimberly Hart-Oliver, the Great Imbera."

The son of said woman turned his helpless gaze to Tommy.  "Why would _He_ return Mother's body to us?  Why this charade?"

"I don't know, Jamie.  I really don't know."

Later, after Jamie had left to pay Lris a visit (among other things, to see if she was still speaking to them after spending so much time with energetic and curious Shan!), Tommy paced Kimberly's room like a caged tiger.

_"So, what do you think?"_ he put to his invisible companion, having run out of options to consider.

_"That can't be Kimberly,"_ the Presence said definitively.

"_Why not?"_ Tommy asked, playing devil's advocate.  _"All the evidence confirms it –the medical scans, Emd's research...."_

_"Do you know the odds for any **one** of Emd's possibilities happening, let alone enough to get the pod where someone could find it?  There are an awful lot of 'ifs' in his data."_

_"Stranger things have happened,"_ Tommy said with a mental shrug.

_"Atler is Norzod's homeworld, even if his base was on an asteroid in the inner system,"_ the voice revealed.  _"I know what your head is telling you; look to your heart, Tommy.  What does it tell you?"_

_"You mean you don't already know?"_  Tommy was only half joking.

_"I don't intrude where not invited,"_ came the affronted sniff.

_"My heart is telling me that the reason you know **that** can't be Kim is because **you** are."_

Silence greeted his assertion.

_"So, were you ever going to tell me the truth?"_ he challenged.

At last she said, _"No."_

_"Why not?"_

_"I hoped you wouldn't find out,"_ she continued sadly.

_"Kim, I've known it was you in my heart since the first you contacted me.  Even Jamie's oh-so-logical explanations couldn't shake it loose,"_ Tommy countered.  _"Why didn't you want me to know?"_

_"Because it doesn't matter; it won't change anything.  I'm dead, Tommy, really and truly dead!"_ she shouted, causing his head to ring.  The pain in her voice was as raw as the pain in his heart.  _"I died on that asteroid, and my spirit was sucked into the Morphin' Grid.  Zordon didn't bother telling us that all dead Rangers don't go to Heaven.  They go to the Grid.  That's how we have the knowledge to use the Powers when we get our coins.  The spirits of all the dead Rangers who've ever used the Power provides it."_

_"The Grid?  Forever?"_ he gulped.  He'd never given much thought to the afterlife, but he'd always assumed, being a good guy and all....

_"As long as the Grid exists, that's where we'll be.  The consensus around here is that once the Grid is gone, we'll go on to whatever rewards our various people believe in."_

_"If you're in the Grid, then how come you're getting weaker?  Surely there's enough energy to support you."_ Tommy asked, totally at sea with all these revelations.

_"Spirits don't hold their individuality forever.  If we lie quiet, we can last for centuries, but the more we try to do –to reach out to others beyond the Grid– the more quickly our consciousness disperses._

_"I've been keeping an eye on things back on Threa since I 'arrived' here.  There was something fishy about Norzod's death; he died too easily when I stabbed him.  Tommy, the man was incredibly powerful."_

_"A nick on the heel felled Achilles,"_ Tommy reminded her, thinking of Mrs. Appleby's unit on Greek mythology.

Kim went on as if she hadn't heard him.  _"My guess is that he sent out a portion of his consciousness at the last moment –an evil seed to grow and come back to haunt us_."__

_"And you know this because...."_

_"Because of the black wave.  Mystical energy isn't good or evil of itself; it just **is**.  It needs a mind to shape it, to color it good or evil.  If Norzod hadn't been present at all in his body, there would have not been the evil residue to contain."_

_"Actually, I meant how did you know he'd 'sent' himself out.  And why only part of his consciousness?  Why not all?"_

_"He might have been successful on the asteroid after all, then he could have reclaimed what he sent out."_  Kim paused to consider.  _"He had to have done it when I would've been too preoccupied to notice –probably when I was transferring the Imbera powers to Jamie.  _

_"As to how I know, Norzod **would** have a contingency plan in case the fight didn't go his way."_

_"I'd have figured that he'd have been his most confident facing a rookie Imbera."_

_"A brand new Imbera is both at his most vulnerable and his most dangerous."_

_"How so?"_

_"An Imbera draws his power from the cosmos; literally, the power is siphoned from one source and channeled into the Imbera.  This maintains the balance of the universe.  When I first became Imbera, I lost control.  I tried to use my powers –and a world died, Tommy."_

Kim's voice became a hoarse whisper.

_"It was a dying world circling a dying star; the 'people' had long since abandoned it, but there was still life there.  Life I destroyed in a single, thoughtless blink of an eye when I absorbed the energy of that star._

_"Not only did a world die, but so did every last person in Norzod's citadel.  His Dark Rangers, the putty-like henchmen, innocent prisoners...."_

Her anguish washed over Tommy, staggering him.

_"You don't know how badly I wanted to get rid of my powers after that,"_ she continued.  _"I didn't want to be responsible for any more deaths –I heard their death cries, Tommy!  They'll be with me forever!  I swore I'd never use the powers if I couldn't get rid of them, but Norzod left me little choice.  The only way I could do it was Sahr and Rhee helped me find stars to absorb with truly lifeless worlds or no planets at all.  If I knew exactly where they were, I didn't have to rely on random choice and risk destroying a populated planet."_

Both were silent, Tommy trying to absorb all Kim had told him and Kim trying to regain her emotional equilibrium.  At last, Tommy ventured, _"So, do you think Norzod's out there in a time warp, like Zordon?"_

_"No, from what I know of him, he wouldn't be content staying behind and letting others do his dirty work.  He trusts no one."_

_"How could you tell he was on the loose again after all this time?"_

_"There was something –a feeling– it was like evil laughter sending cold shivers down my spine.  And the nightmares... totally foul!"_

_"Why contact me?  Why not go to Jamie directly?"_

If Tommy hadn't known better, he'd have sworn Kim was blushing.

_"Who else would I turn to when I need help?  Who else has always been there for me?"_ she asked with gentle affection._  "After that initial call –which was made in a moment of panic– I wasn't going to contact you again.  I couldn't bear 'being' with you and knowing I couldn't stay.  Every time I touch your mind, it gets harder and harder to say good-bye."_

_"Then don't,"_ he said simply.

_"What?  Don't contact you or say good-bye?"_

_"Say good-bye."_

_"What –you mean have me 'live' in your head like you suggested?"_

_"Yes.  Kim, I don't want to lose you again."_

_"You won't, Tommy.  You can't.  We're lifebonded.  Someday you'll be with me in the Morphin' Grid –and don't get any funny ideas!" _she scolded.

Tommy smiled, knowing exactly what she meant.  Once upon a time –in his moment of greatest despair, he'd thought suicide was the answer, but Kim had showed him that giving up wasn't the way: _"It only gives Rita a victory she doesn't deserve!"_  And he had never regretted listening to her.

_"I promise not to do anything stupid."_

_"Live for me, Tommy,"_ she pleaded.

_"Kim, I know I can't bring you back from the dead, but at least let me keep you with me while I can.  If for no other reason than we need you.  No one understands Norzod like you –not even Jamie.  Plus, you have a granddaughter, great-grandchildren and more on the way that you've never known.  Our family needs your help."_

_"That's fighting dirty,"_ she muttered. __

_"Kim, please.  I want to do this.  I have to.  I couldn't be there for you when you were the Imbera.  I had to stand by helplessly and let you live and die in another dimension.  Now I have a chance to...."_

_"To do what?"_ she asked gently.  _"Bring me back?  Keep a part of me with you?  It won't work like that.  You won't be able to keep me inside of your mind indefinitely, and even if you could, I wouldn't want to exist like that.  I'd be forced to watch from the sidelines, never able to participate, never able to feel anything on my own._

_"It's tempting, Tommy; I won't deny that.  But even if I agreed,  like I told you before, you're not equipped to handle this –Play Doh brain or not.  I could hurt you."_

_"You won't; I know it,"_ he told her confidently.  _"This is a risk I'm willing to take._"

_"What if I'm not?  What if this doesn't work?"_

_"Kim, all I'm asking is for you to try.  If it doesn't work, it doesn't work.  If it does, we'll figure things out from there.  What would you need to do –if you decide to try?"_

Kim sighed in the face of his obstinacy.  _"Well, my best guess is that since I'd be leaving the Morphin' Grid, I'd need to gather all my individual energy and travel along your link to the Grid back to your mind."_

_"**All** your energy?"_

_"I'm not a natural telepath; I can't break off a portion of my psyche like Norzod did.  It's an all or nothing shot."_

That gave Tommy pause. _"And if this doesn't work, would you be able to go back?"_

_"I think so, but whether I'd be able to maintain my individuality, I don't know."_

_"I don't want anything to happen to you...."_  He wavered in his conviction.  The last thing he wanted to do was jeopardize what existence Kim had.  His selfish desires weren't worth that!

_"Don't worry, Tommy; I've already made up my mind,"_ she interrupted, silencing him, appreciating that his concern for her outweighed all else.  But then, the reverse had always been true for her.  _"This is a risk I'm willing to take."_

In spite of everything, Tommy couldn't help smiling.  _"Okay, what do I need to do?"_

_"Physical contact would make things easier, but since that isn't an option, just sit back and relax."_

_"Would it help if I held the amulet?  It always seems to help when you contact me."_

_"It couldn't hurt."_

Tommy laid down on the bed and tried to will his body to un-tense.  He was nervous, excited and a little scared.  He clutched Kim's insignia tightly.  Closing his eyes, he tried to find a meditative state –to let his thoughts drifts.  However, before he gave over to his relaxed state, he said, _"I love you, Beautiful."_

_"I know, Tommy.  I love you, too.  Now, open your mind and heart... let me in...."_

_"Then you're already halfway home, Beautiful.  You've always been in my mind and heart; you've never left."_

* * *

Tommy awoke an indeterminate time later, his head feeling stuffed full of wool, and fragments of dreams drifted away, ephemeral as smoke.

_"Kim?"_ he called out hopefully.

_"I'm here."_

_"It worked?"_  She sounded stronger, felt closer, but....

_"You sure know how to make a girl feel welcome,"_ she teased, a smile of amusement evident in her tone.

Tommy blushed, knowing she was referring either to his unshielded thoughts or to his dreams, both of which centered on her.  He didn't care.  She had seen him at his lowest and at his best.  He'd been intimate with her; he had nothing to hide.

_"I **do** feel like I've come home."_

However, before the two could explore their new connection more fully, an alarm claxon sounded.  Tommy was on his feet and ready for action.  As he rushed from his room, he all but crashed into Jamie in the outer corridor.  He hadn't heard his son return.

"What is it?" Tommy asked.

Jamie didn't answer at once.  First he slid into the chair before the main computer and tried to raise the Command Center.  "Communications must be down.  I'll try security...." he barked out in clip tones, as battle-ready as his sire.  "Security breach in the Command Center.  Level A, section 5 –Zol's lab!"

"Let's go," Tommy declared.

"Wait, Tommy," Jamie began, even as Kim was saying, _"You won't be able to teleport."_

"No teleporting," Tommy voiced Kim's report.

Jamie confirmed with a nod.  "Scramblers were activated to contain the intruder; no one teleports in or out.  This is what should have happened the night I was almost abducted."

"Any other way in?  We can't just sit here and do nothing."

"We could teleport directly outside the Command Center, but the security field will be activated."

_"The buffer will let in known patterns but no one can get out."_

"And there will be security guards to contend with."

"What about the lower levels?" Tommy asked excitedly.  "Those entrances probably aren't too heavily guarded.  I know my way around down there pretty well –thanks to my unintended tour with Lris.  We wouldn't be in security's way, and we can get to the lab quickly through the maintenance corridors."

"Inputting the coordinates to the backdoor," Jamie said with a grin.

In a flash –literally– the two were racing toward the Rangers' headquarters.  They passed through the security barrier without any difficulty, though Tommy experienced some concern for Kim's presence in his head.

_"You remind me of me when I was pregnant with Jamie,"_ Kim laughed.

While Tommy's memories of the building were still fresh, Kim's were more detailed.  The duo unerringly made their way through the dimly lit hallways and service corridors.  Instinctively, they were silent, their senses on alert for the subtlest sign of danger.  When danger struck at last, it was anything but subtle; it literally ran right into them.

"Jamie, down!" Tommy ordered as he bore the brunt of the initial impact.  The light was so low, he could only make out the intruder's silhouette, no details.  However, their assailant was more concerned with flight than fight.  He recovered from the fall quickly and tried to sprint away.

"No you don't," Tommy grunted as, from his sprawled position, he lunged after his unknown foe.  He managed to snag his opponent by the foot and bring him down.  The villain kicked out and caught Tommy with a glancing blow from a large, solid foot.  Tommy, however, maintained his grip on the other's appendage, reaching for a more secure hold about his ankle.

By this time, Jamie had recovered and entered the fray.  Not particularly elegant but effective nonetheless, Jamie sat down on their struggling foe.

The man continued thrashing frantically, his strength seeming to increase with desperation.  He flung Jamie aside easily, but the former Imbera had bought his father time to recover.  Tommy was ready and waiting when their opponent surged forward.

"I will call for reinforcements!" Jamie shouted.

"Good," Tommy muttered, not caring if Jamie heard him or not.  His foe had an exceptionally long arms; it was difficult to remain out of his reach while landing his own blows.  Also, his desperate assailant was not using martial arts, just sheer brute force.  While Tommy had the advantage of being able to land his strikes with precision, planned to land to the greatest effect (in spite of his being out of practice), his sparring partner was unpredictable, and even a glancing hit landed with painful intensity.  The longer Tommy kicked, blocked and struck, the more mindlessly savage his opponent became.

Suddenly, the darkness was filled with multi-colored light.  Red, Blue, Yellow, Green –the Rangers had arrived.  Two took up positions up the hall and two held firm down the hall, blocking off any escape.

"Tommy, down!" someone shouted.

He hit the deck seconds before the air was filled with the whine of a Power Blaster.

The first beam failed to fell the invader.  Then came a second and a third; still the intruder struggled to break free.  Finally, all four blasters targeted the villain.

"Don't kill him!" Tommy and Kim shouted as one.

The Rangers almost drained their weapons dry before their opponent finally collapsed.

"Do not worry, Ranger of Earth," the Green Ranger remarked, his tone cocky.  "Stun first; ask questions later."

"Let us return to the lab with him," Brath directed.  "Contain him in a security field."

"Tommy, are you hurt?" Jamie asked as he helped his father to his feet.

"I'm going to be black and blue for a week," Tommy groaned, "but it's nothing serious."

_"Have a healer examine you just in case,"_ Kim advised.  _"Remember that cracked rib you **swore** you didn't have?"_

_"This is going to be worse than you sitting on me all the time, isn't it?"_ he complained with a long suffering sigh.  Aloud he said, "but Zol or Marg can check me out just to make sure."

_"Thank you."_

"Are you well enough to go to the lab?" Brath asked.  "I assume you would like to be present when we see who it is we have caught."

_"Just try and keep him away,"_ Kim snorted.

"Of course," Tommy agreed.  To his lifebond, he added privately, _"As if you wouldn't do exactly the same thing."_

_"I learned from the best,"_ she replied with jaunty affection.

The sextet and their prisoner moved directly to the lab.  Brath and Emd immediately secured their prisoner.  Zol turned her attention to the damaged equipment, and Synn spared a moment to pass a portable med-scanner over Tommy.

"What happened?" Tommy demanded.

"We do not know how he got in here, but Zol discovered him by the life pod trying to open it.  She tried stopping him, but he went crazy, lashing out and destroying the computer consoles and any other machine he could get his hands on.  Maximum damage seemed to be his intent.  He bolted when the rest of us arrived."

"Was the life pod damaged?" Jamie asked concernedly.

"The pod seals were breached," Zol reported, her voice tight with concern.  "The revival process has been initiated.

Tommy clamped a hand on Jamie's shoulder as his son gave a start of surprise.  "There's nothing to revive; you said it yourself: Kim's dead."

Jamie visibly deflated and said quietly, "I know."

"As best I can tell, Tommy, you have suffered no serious injury," Synn related and took his leave to continue assisting Zol.

"How about we go see who this intruder is," Tommy recommended, hoping to distract his son.  Jamie allowed himself to be led away with a last, longing look at the pod.

_"He's so sad,"_ Kim murmured.

_"He misses you –and still blames himself for not being able to save you."_

_"He has the Oliver guilt muscle, all right,"_ she sighed.  _"The only one at fault for my death is Norzod."_

_"On some level, he knows that, and over the centuries he's come to accept it –not like at first when he came to your funeral on Earth."_

_"All this has opened old wounds for him,"_ Kim said, and Tommy felt the sharpness of her anger and the fierce protectiveness of a mother for her child.  _"Damn Norzod for hurting my baby again!"_

_"He's a grown man now, Kim,"_ Tommy reminded her with a touch of amusement.

_"I don't care if he lives to be 1000; he'll always be my baby,"_ she asserted with that illogical logic Tommy knew so well from his own mother.  Perhaps if he'd had a hand in raising Jamie, he might understand that a little better.

"Where is Prist?" Brath asked as father and son joined the two Rangers.  "We could use her help figuring out who –or what– this is."

"She should be in the infirmary with Jax," Jamie replied.  "She could probably be spared now to come help.  What do the computers say his race is?"

"That is the problem.  He does not conform to any one species or race we have on file," Emd added.

Tommy looked at their prisoner.  Though he had never seen the face before, he knew this to be the leader of the would-be kidnapers that he'd glimpsed in Jamie's room.  The hunched shoulders, the long, heavily muscled arms, the conical head....  However, he hadn't needed to hear Emd's words or to have seen this type of being before to know that there was something not quite right about their captive.

A sense of wrongness emanated from him.  It was in the contorted features –a disfigurement unnaturally made as if someone had grabbed a handful of face and squeezed until fleshed oozed between fingers.  It was in the cruel shape of the limbs –like they had been forced to function in ways other than nature had intended.  It was in the emptiness in his eyes....

_"Omigod!  D'Ez!"_ Kim cried out in Tommy's mind.  _"Who did that to him?"_

"D'Ez?" Tommy murmured aloud.

"What did you say, Tommy?" Jamie asked.  "There is something vaguely familiar about this man.  Is he one of those who tried to abduct me?"

"I think you know him from somewhere else, Jamie," Tommy said, horror making his voice tight.  "Brath, try scanning for..." he paused to let Kim provide him with the correct term, "a Grolad bio-signature and see if it matches any pattern in your database."

Perplexed but willing to try anything, the Red Ranger complied.

"Why Grolad?" Jamie wondered, "and how do I know this being?"

"You've known him since you were a kid...."

"I am coming up with a match," Brath interjected, his voice full of astonishment.

"D'Ez," Tommy concluded, speaking the name Kim had cried out with such anguish.  "Atir's helper."

"No...."

"Yes," the Red Ranger Confirmed.

"That's how he was able to get in –the security system recognized his patterns, twisted though they were," Tommy realized.

"What happened to him?" the Green Ranger asked, abhorrence filling his voice.

"Where's Vlar?" Tommy asked suddenly.  Jamie had gone pale, appearing to be in shock.  He did not look to be in any condition to talk.

"He is still on monitor duty.  The activity the long range scanners detected are unknown ships massing at the system's edge."

_"Ships?"_ Kim perked up.

"How about Beys?" Tommy tried again.  They needed someone else who had known the shaper.

Shock built upon shock as Zol shouted, "Someone get me a healer –quick!  I am picking up life signs from the Great Imbera!"


	13. Chapter 12

From The Ashes Chapter 12 

All non-essential personnel were ejected from the lab.  Behind closed doors, Marg, her son Ming and Zol worked on a woman who shouldn't have been alive.

Tommy and the others led Jamie to the conference room where they were met by Beys.

"The ships seem to be in a holding pattern; there is no observable activity –either in ship movement or in communications," she said, having come from assisting Vlar at the monitor station.

"At least external communications are still functional," Brath sighed.

"What can you tell us about D'Ez?" Tommy asked.

"D'Ez the flesh shaper?" the former Pink Ranger reiterated.  "Not much, never having served while he was still here.  Jamie did not form his team until after he lost his mother.  I can give you facts, but Marg or Jamie would be best for knowing about the man."

"Jamie is not exactly in any shape to talk at the moment, and Marg is kind of busy," Tommy said with a heart felt glance at his shell-shocked son.        

_"My poor baby,"_ Kim sniffed, as affected by what they had seen as Jamie.  _"Poor D'Ez; he was such a gentle soul.  He was brilliant and artistic and.... He had known Atir for centuries, but they weren't from the same homeworld.  I'm not sure how they had met, but I think he may have been in love with her.  I know he was devastated when she died._

_"His people were flesh changers.  They could sculpt and mold people's bodies –even at the cellular level-- like we shape clay.  Threan healers are just that: healers; they can heal any wound, but they can't rearrange a person's genetic code.  Marg is really the only Threan who ever attained any skill at flesh shaping; she was D'Ez's pupil, but she could never have worked on me and Jamie if D'Ez hadn't changed us first._

_"He was so nice –he so hated that I could never go home to be with you.  He couldn't change me once the power bonded to me.  He always blamed himself,"_ Kim sighed.  _"I think he knew what it was like to be forever separated from one's world and loved ones."_

_"Sh!"_ Tommy hushed as he realized Beys was speaking.  Kim had already admitted to not knowing what became of the kindly shaper, and it was something they seriously needed to know.

"According to the reports left by Kest, the Great Imbera's security chief, and the memories Jamie shared with us, Norzod's flagship was destroyed in the last skirmish above Threa.  The Rangers had won –or so they thought," Beys related.  "There were many smaller ships –escape pods– to round up and dispose of.  The Great Imbera did not want Norzod to escape."

_"It's too weird hearing myself referred to as The Great Imbera,"_ Kimberly murmured.

Beys went on, unaware that she had been interrupted.  "Several of the smaller craft made it to the surface.  Security forces from the Academy were dispatched to contain them.  They did –except for one vessel.  They had lost it on radar because there was no power signature from the engines.  It glided into the forest around the family compound."

"I was consulting with D'Ez," Jamie began haltingly, slowly recovering from his shock.  "Ayn was due to deliver Twyn soon, and I needed to know if Twyn would need genetic alterations.  Neither Nahl nor Rill had, but the possibility existed that she would be more human than Threan.

"We never knew what hit us.  There was an explosion –I was struck in the head by flying debris.  My last memory was of a hulking armored figure striding through the smoke.

"I am uncertain how long I remained unconscious, but we were already on Norzod's asteroid base when I awoke.  It was Norzod's not-so-gentle probing of me that roused me.  My cries of pain –felt by Mother through our link– are what drew Mother and the others to the Atler system –ultimately, to their deaths."

Jamie tried to fight through the anguish of his memories to continue.  "I believed that D'Ez had been left behind, at best; at worst, I believed he had been killed.  It was not until I returned that I learned he had been abducted as well.  And I knew that if he had been taken to the asteroid with me, he was truly dead."

_"He's been dead in mind since that day,"_ Kim confirmed.  _"Oh, Tommy!  The psychic scars I found...."_

"What would Norzod have wanted him for?" Jamie asked bleakly.  "D'Ez was a truly good soul."

"Maybe Norzod wanted his flesh shaping abilities for something," Tommy postulated.

"Why, when there were plenty of corrupt Groladians out there selling their skills to the highest bidder?  How D'Ez detested them for perverting their gifts from their gods!"

"Perhaps it was simply revenge," Beys offered.  "Had it not been for D'Ez, there would have been no Imbera to thwart him."

Before anyone could speculate further, the conference room door opened, and in walked Marg.  The aged elf was pale, evidence of intense strain etched on her features.  Determination glinted in her eyes, and no one spoke as she crossed the room to kneel beside Jamie's chair.

"Jamie, is there _any_ possibility –no matter how remote– that your mother was not quite dead when you put her in the life pod?" the healer asked, to the astonishment of all.

"I felt our link crumble.  I saw her take her last breath," he stammered, struggling not to succumb to the mind blowing possibility.

"When –exactly– was your link to her severed?  Was it after the power transfer was completed?" Marg wanted to clarify.

"No, I could feel it weakening throughout the transfer; it was gone by the time the transfer was complete."

"And she was still alive at that time?"

"Yes."

"D'Ez never adjusted Kimberly's telepathic centers as he had yours.  She was too old –her mind too rigid; whereas, he had worked on yours since you were an infant.  Her powers were the only way for her to maintain your link."  The healer paused to consider.  "It is not unknown for a heart to continue beating –briefly– after that last gasp...."

"Marg, what are you saying?" Tommy interrupted.  "Is Kimberly alive?"

"A healer cannot heal dead tissue.  A life support pod cannot resurrect a corpse," was the woman's answer.

_"What kind of brain activity is there?"_ Kim demanded, and Tommy relayed the question.

"At the moment, we are only registering minimum activity; we will know more if/when the patient regains consciousness."

"But it could just be a body without a soul," Tommy muttered, he and Kim privately considering the options.

"Is such a thing possible?" Beys gasped.

"Just look at D'Ez," Marg said sadly.  "My poor mentor and friend.  He is nothing but a mindless, mutilated shell."

"Then we won't get any information out of him?" Tommy asked, disappointed.

"No.  I tried to link with him...."  Marg shuddered; the experience had been as unpleasant as it had been painful.  "There was left only a vestige of the man I knew –base instinct.  I set him free of his nightmare at last."

They all instinctively knew she meant freedom through death.

"I owed him that."

"Can I sit with Mother?" Jamie requested hopefully.  "Maybe I can reach her."

"Very well.  You many try."

*

_"I can't believe Jamie believes that's me!"_ Kim huffed.

_"Maybe it's more a case that he w**ants** to believe,"_ Tommy corrected.  _"Heck, if I didn't know better, I'd want to believe it's you, too."_

_"But it's not!"_

_"But it **could** be your body,"_ he pointed out.

 Kim reluctantly had to grant that.  _"Maybe... it does look an awful lot like the last time I looked in the mirror."_

_"You looked pretty great for 197 years old."_

_"Tommy, be serious!"_

_"Look, if 'you' wake up down there, we know it won't be **you**."_

_"Who else would it be?"_

_"Probably whoever was inside D'Ez's body,"_ Tommy concluded.  _"The guy in the lab may have been a mindless shell, but he wasn't mindless when he was directing Jamie's almost-kidnaping."_

_"Norzod,"_ Kim declared grimly.  _"It's the only thing that makes sense."_

_"I can see him taking over D'Ez and breaking into the Command Center and house.  He'd have all D'Ez's knowledge; the Threan security systems would recognize his patters, but what would Norzod get out of being in your body since you no longer have your powers?"_

_"I don't know, but we should kill him while he's still unconscious."_

_"Kim?"_ Tommy gasped in shock.  The anger and hatred he felt roiling within her dwarfed those same feelings he'd harbored for Zedd and Rita for so many years.

_"I want him dead, Tommy,"_ she said unapologetically.  _"That fiend murdered my friends before my eyes.  He kidnaped and tortured my son.  He –ultimately– took me away from you."_

_"Not to mention he killed you."_

_"Tommy, he's vulnerable while he's in a physical shell.  We can't give him a chance to loose his spirit again.  We've got to stop him before he hurts our family any more."_

Before Tommy could pursue this further, Vlar burst into the observation deck.

"What is it?" Tommy asked, immediately alert.

"Internal communications are still down," Vlar panted, "and I cannot reach anyone mentally.  I need the Rangers in the Ready Room –Jax, too."

"What's up?"

"The ships are on the move, and they are on course for Threa."

*

"What is the situation?" Jax asked as he and Prist arrived in the heart of the Command Center, the last two to do so.  The young Imbera sounded stronger –more sure of himself than he had since Trin died.

Tommy knew the reason for his renewed confidence and blushed.

_"If they didn't want to be interrupted, they should have locked the door,"_ Kim said, a smile evident in her tone.

_"You're not embarrassed about catching them in the act?"_

_"I'm more used to Threans' more relaxed attitudes about sex.  They don't see it as something to be hidden or be ashamed of."_

Vlar's briefing called them back to the matter at hand.   

"At last count, we detected 100 ships, ranging in size from large cruisers to small one-man crafts," the security chief announced.  "Emd has run computations on possible trajectories...."

"Almost all of which bring them far too close to Threa," the Green Ranger concluded.

"Any evidence of hostile intent?" Brath asked.  

"Have we identified what type of ships they are?" Jax queried.

"Atler battle cruisers," Synn answered.

"You could not ask for anything more heavily armed or more lethal," Vlar murmured.

"There is no evidence that the weapons systems are charged...." Zol began, consulting her screen.

"They are too far out yet for weapons to be online, if that is their intent," Vlar offered.

"Does anyone think it's kind of odd to have a war fleet on our doorstep and absolutely no internal communications –not even telepathy?" Tommy spoke up.  All eyes turned towards him then to each other.  Tommy could tell that they were attempting mental contact –unsuccessfully.  The questions flew.

"When...?"

"How...?"

"I don't know about anyone else, but the last time I noticed anybody successfully getting a hold of anyone mentally was when Jamie was summoned to the lab –about the time Jax woke up," Tommy said.  "Unless, he got a hold of you guys telepathically when D'Ez ran into us."

"We received no summons from the First Born," Brath answered.  "We were already on our way."

"That would put Tommy's incident at over a day ago," Jax remarked.

"This isn't the first time all mental contact has been down," Tommy pointed out.

"The night Jamie was almost abducted," Vlar realized.

*

_"It's Norzod; it has to be,"_ Kim insisted.

The briefing had broken up shortly after the latest revelations.  The team was to remain on high alert while they sought to restore radio communications, at the very least, and to discover what was blocking their mind speech.

_"He was here in D'Ez's body the night Jamie was attacked," _Kim pursued.

_"I wonder how we can still talk to each other.  That's telepathy, isn't it?"_ Tommy questioned.

_"Not quite.  We're sharing your head.  If I was still in the Grid, I don't think I'd be able to get through.  That night I couldn't until the kidnapers left."_

_"That night, Jamie was able to reach Lris through their matebond.  I bet Jax and Prist can get through to each other."_

_"Bonding links can be jammed, but only if you know about them and compensate for them specifically."_

_"Why does Norzod want Threa so badly?"_ Tommy asked.  _"I never understood why Zedd and Rita and Mondo and all the others wanted to conquer Earth so badly.  We don't have any advanced technology.  We're virtually alone in our corner of the universe, and the intergalactic community thinks we're little more than children.  What's so special about Earth?"_

_"I used to wonder that, too, but Atir told me why," _Kim revealed.  _"Earth is a gateway world.  Whoever controls Earth, controls access to an unlimited number of dimensions –and the powers that can be harnessed from those dimensions.  And since Earth is such a backwater world, the bad guys think it's an easy target._

_"The reason Norzod wants Threa is so he can have access to Earth –and beyond."_

"Tommy," Vlar called as he caught up with him en route to the labs.  "I have those coordinates you asked for."

Kim had had Tommy request the location of a dying star with no –or totally lifeless-- worlds.

"Give them to Jax and have him memorize them," Tommy advised.

"I had wondered...." Vlar began, asking no further questions.  He had performed the same function for Jamie not all that long ago.  He remembered the toll using the full might of the Imbera had taken on his friend.  "I hope it does not come to this."

"Me either."

_"I just hope we can get to 'my' body before anything else happens,"_ Kim said grimly.

_"Are you sure that this is the only way?"_ Tommy asked, uncomfortable with the thought of killing in cold blood –especially when the someone in question looked like Kim.  The power blaster tucked into the holster he had appropriated from the weapons locker felt cold and alien to him.  A swords had always been his preferred weapon.

_"Norzod is as evil as Zordon was good.  I sacrificed everything I held dear to stop this fiend once; I **won't** let him win now._  _If you can't do this, let me have control of your body,"_ Kim requested._ "It has to be instant death.  If it's a slow one, Norzod could get away again."_

_"Then putting you in control of my body won't work.  Your reaction time is delayed just enough that the shot might not be as clean as you want."_  Not to mention that they'd be more vulnerable, too.  _"I'll do it; it just won't be easy, that's all."_

_"Deliberately taking a life –even a monster's– never is.  It isn't supposed to be.  If it was, we'd be no better than the creeps we fight."_

_"The hard part will be Jamie.  He's liable to throttle me."_

_"We'll just make sure Jamie isn't there.  He needs to be helping Jax right now, not hovering over his 'mother.'"_

_"And if you'd seen your mother killed then miraculously restored to life, wouldn't you be hovering at her side?"_ Tommy countered, understanding Jamie very well right now.

Kim was silent for along while before responding.  _"Once upon a time –yeah, I'd have done the same thing.  I've been a warrior for too long, Tommy; I think I've forgotten how to be anything else."_

She sounded so sad, and Tommy mourned the loss of the perky young woman full of life Kim used to be.__

_"You'll be able to re-learn once this is all over,"_ he assured her.

_"Once this is all over, I'll be returning to the Morphin' Grid."_

It was a thought Tommy didn't want to contemplate.  However, he cast those thoughts aside as they reached Zol's lab.  He and Kim were totally unprepared for the sight that awaited them.

"Tommy!" Jamie chirped happily as the Terran Ranger pulled up short inside the doorway.

Sitting up on the bed was a very much alive –and conscious-- Kimberly.


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"I was in time after all ," Jamie declared happily, beaming up the woman he had always thought he had let down.

"Yes, you were, Jamie," 'Kimberly' replied, smiling at him with parental affection.

Her voice was so like the one Tommy heard in his head, it was almost enough to shake his convictions –almost.

_"He's good, I'll give him that,"_ Kim snorted.  _"He's got Jamie but good –hook, line and sinker."_

_"Your recovery means Jamie didn't fail,"_ Tommy reminded her.

_"You won't be able to get off a clear shot here, not with Jamie in the way.  Damn!  We'll have to try again later."_

Fortunately, Jamie was too wrapped up in his joyous reunion to pay attention to Tommy's prolonged silence, and even if he had noticed, he would have dismissed as shock.  Tommy took advantage of his son's distraction and drifted over to where Marg was reviewing the computer scans.

_"Ask about the brainwave comparison,"_ Kim instructed.

"Have you done another brainwave scan?" Tommy relayed.

"A preliminary one.  The patterns are very unstable –especially in the higher brain functions," the healer explained.  "But that is not uncommon in someone just revived from suspension.  Disorientation is a natural side effect, as is temporary memory loss.  Baseline functions match, but we will do another series tomorrow."

"Mother, you are not going to believe who is here," Jamie was saying, and both Tommy and Kim cursed silently.

"Who?" 'Kimberly' asked brightly, following his gesture to where Tommy stood.  There was absolutely no trace of recognition in her expression.

Jamie flashed her a puzzled frown.  "Tommy.  Don't you remember...?"

Tommy drifted over and silenced him with a hand on his arm and whispered in his ear, "Marg said disorientation and memory gaps are normal at this stage.  She'll remember me on her own soon enough; let's not overload her right now."

While Kim didn't say anything, Tommy felt her amusement.  He grumbled defensively, _"So I laid it on a little thick.  Norzod doesn't know me, right?"_

_"Right, and let's keep it that way.  The less he knows, the better for us,"_ Kim agreed.

"You are a friend of Jamie's?" Kimberly asked, frowning as she studied him, for all the world as if she was searching her memory.  "From Earth?"

"Yes."

Before further conversation commenced, an alarm claxon sounded.  The change that came over 'Kimberly' was astonishing.  Gone was the vague, befuddled expression.  She leaped off the bed, body tense and poised for action.

"Trouble," she stated, her voice ringing with authority.

"Old habits die hard," Tommy murmured under his breath.

"Take it easy, Mother," Jamie cautioned, trying to restrain the one-time Imbera.

"I am needed," she insisted.

"Jax and the Rangers can handle whatever it is," Jamie assured her.  "You are retired."

"Jamie, why don't I go look into this for you," suggested Tommy, looking for an excuse to get away before further awkward questions could be asked.  "You stay with your mother."

"All right, Tommy."

And he quickly departed.

_"I don't like leaving Jamie alone with that fiend,"_ Kim said.

_"Neither do I, but I don't think he's in any danger yet.  Norzod may have wanted Jamie out of the way, but right now, Jamie is proving to be his biggest asset.  With Jamie so convinced Norzod's exactly who he says he is, are the Rangers likely to question him too closely?"_

Long strides carried Tommy to the heart of the Command Center in record time.  The Rangers and Jax were already gathered around the Viewing Globe.  Within the orb flickered the image of the flagship of the fleet.

"What...?" Tommy began softly as he halted next to Vlar.

"Incoming transmission," the security chief whispered back.

The image shimmered and changed, focusing on a massive figure in grey battle armor and a scarlet cloak.  The face was hidden behind a mirror-like visor.  Anyone looking at this individual would only see his own reflection –would see his own fear reflected back at him.

The message was brief.

_"Surrender by the time we reach orbit, or the planet will be reduced to cinders and slag."_

"How much time does that give us?" Tommy wondered.

"At sub-light, days.  At supra-light, hours," Vlarn answered, his voice tight.

"They have demonstrated their hostile intent; we should take the battle to them," the Green Ranger recommended.

"The Megazord cannot handle a fleet of that size on its own," Zol cautioned.

"The satellite base's armaments will even the odds, but not at this range," Synn added.

"It would be better if we could stop them as far away from Threa as possible," Jax murmured.

"Jax, how many do you think you can handle at full power?" Brath asked.

Silence was his only answer.

All eyes turned to the un-tried Imbera.  The White Ranger looked away, fists clenched at his sides, unable to face his friends and teammates.  Long minutes ticked by before he spoke.  His answer was a terse, "I don't know."

"What do you mean...?" Emd began, but Prist waved him to be quiet.

"I have the power but not the knowledge of how to use it," Jax confessed.

"Twyn wasn't able to finish the transfer before her mind was shut down," Tommy explained.

"We _need_ the Imbera," Brath reiterated helplessly.

"Is there any other way to get you that knowledge?" Zol pursued.  "What about the First Born?  Could he transfer the knowledge to you?"

"He's newly matebonded –as is Jax.  It'd be too dangerous to both of them if they tried to link up right now," Tommy cautioned.

"They are?" Synn gasped.

"There will be time for explanations later," Vlar interjected.

"Perhaps you could transfer the powers back to the First Born instead," Prist suggested.

"If not Jamie, then what about me?"

Everyone turned towards the entrance to the chamber to find 'Kimberly', now garbed in an old suit of white battle armor, standing in the doorway.

_"Where'd he get that?"_ Kim grumbled.

"The Great Imbera lives?" Brath choked out, clearly awed.

"My apologies; I could not keep her in the infirmary," Jamie added as he rushed up behind his mother. 

_"I bet he didn't try sitting on her,"_ Kim snorted.

In his wake, Twyn arrived.  

"I heard the alarms and had to come," she said by way of explanation.

"I want to help," the resurrected Imbera insisted.

"Once a Ranger, always a Ranger, eh?" Tommy said knowingly.

"I cannot perform the transfer; I do not know how," Jax admitted anguishedly.

"But I do," 'Kimberly' said.

"Mother, are you certain?" Jamie queried, concerned but eager to accept this solution to their dilemma.  "Are you sufficiently recovered to be able to link with Jax?"

_"That's it, Tommy!"_ Kim yelped.  _"Norzod is trying to get the Imbera powers.  With them, he'd have no problem conquering Threa, Earth or any other planet he has his heart set on."_

_"And since Jax can't transfer them, he'll take control of Jax," _Tommy reasoned, following her line of thought.

_"We have to stop him now!  They can't form that link!"_

_"We will; I promise, but Norzod's too close to Jamie.  I don't want to accidently shoot our son.  Let's see if he paces or something."_

"I can do this, Jamie," 'Kimberly insisted.  "Unless Twyn miraculously recovers or your bond stabilizes immediately, I am the only hope Jax has."

The Great Imbera's words were cold, sharp and hurtful.  Twyn flinched at her callous reference to her injury, and even Jamie was taken aback.

'Kimberly' turned to face the Rangers, stepping away from her son's overprotective presence.  "Please, let me help.  These are Atler warships.  I've faced them before.  I know how the captains fight... how they think.  You need me."

The moment 'Kimberly' moved, Tommy's hand dropped to his power blaster, surreptitiously easing it from its holster.  He was only going to get one shot at this.

_"C'mon, Norzod...."_ Kim urged, desperately wanting her arch-nemesis to give them the opening they needed.

However, 'Kimberly' approached Jax, standing right in front of him.  She placed both her hands on his shoulders and stared him in the eyes.

"Jax, you know I am right," she insisted.

Around her, the other Rangers were nodding in agreement.

_"JAX, DON'T LET HER FORGE THAT LINK!"_

Tommy's head rang with Kim's cry; he knew she was frantically trying to contact their great-grandson.  Whether she did or not, he couldn't know, but something made Jax pause, his body stiffening, and he drew away from 'Kimberly.'

"I do not know...." he began hesitantly.

"You have the power; I have the knowledge," The Great Imbera continued persuasively.  "Together, we can obliterate the forces which threaten Threa."

_"Now, Tommy!"_ Kim shrieked, and Tommy saw it the instant she did: Norzod was reaching up as if to press his fingers against Jax's temple.

"NO!" Tommy shouted, throwing himself toward Jax while firing his weapon.  He shoved his descendant out of the way, and the blast burned into the petite body at close range.

"NO!" Jamie screamed as 'Kimberly' staggered back, her midsection smoking.

Vlar and Jax were the closest to Tommy and both restrained him as he fought to get off another shot.

"What have you done?" Jamie demanded, tears of rage and grief filling his eyes as he rushed forward to cradle his parent's body.  He'd just seen his father murder his mother!

"That's not Kimberly," Tommy rasped as he fought with his captors.  He looked frantically from one to the other.  "Kim would never call for a slaughter like that.  She'd try to find another way."

"Prist...." Brath snapped, wanting confirmation.

The Pink Ranger reached out with her mind and....

She collapsed, her body shuddering with intense cold.

"Prist!" 

Jax let Tommy go and turned to his matebond.

"So dark... cold... evil...." Prist stammered as she clung to the White Ranger.  She gazed up at him with fear-filled eyes.  "Just like what I felt from Trin before she...."

_"Is he...?"_ Tommy asked of Kim.

_"I don't know; that armor is designed to withstand power blasts, but at such close range...."_

They had their answer moments later.

"Look!" Twyn gasped.  In her father's arms, the body of the Great Imbera crumbled to dust, and rising from the ashes was a swirling miasma of darkness.  The amorphous cloud had no shape, but a pair of eyes glared furiously out of the blackness at Tommy.

"I do not know who you are, human, but I will not be bested by another of your kind," were the soul-chilling words.

"You're wrong, Norzod," Tommy challenged.  "You're not going to get your hands on the Imbera powers."

"Perhaps not, but Threa will still be mine because there is nobody who can stop me!"

With a malevolent laugh, the black wave of energy rose into the air and streaked out of the chamber... out of the Command Center.

"Jax –no questions.  Link with me now!" Tommy ordered.  He grabbed the neophyte Imbera's hand and placed it on his forehead.  "Open your mind...."

Unlike the gentle flow when Kim had eased into his mind, she surged forth from him in a rush, flinging herself into their great-grandson's mind.

Tommy had expected to feel empty... closed off –excluded from his link with Kim.  However, he found himself in the midst of a fiery meld of himself, Kimberly and Jax.  Kim was rattling off instructions to both him and the present Imbera.  Jax, she sent sprinting out of the chamber; him, she had relaying orders to the others.

"Prime the guns on the zords and open the hangar roof doors," he commanded.

"Tommy, what is happening?  Why are your eyes glowing?" Jamie asked, thoroughly lost in the maelstrom of rapid-fire events.

"Where is Jax going?" Vlar queried.

"Thomas James, Junior, do it! Now!" Tommy snapped.

"Mother?" Jamie stammered, recognizing the tone and the words, if not the voice issuing the orders.  Suddenly, old reflexes kicked in, and he barked, "Whatever Tommy wants, do it.  We shall get our answers later."

"Guns on line; batteries charging," Vlar said crisply, also falling into old habits.

"Hangar cameras on," Beys interjected.

"Hangar roof –open," Twyn added.

The present team of Rangers were left standing, watching and reeling in amazement.

_"Start powering up, Jax; open yourself to the universe."_

One moment, Tommy felt energy rushing into him –a fire sweeping through his body.  The next, he was overwhelmed by a ravenous hunger; it was as if he hadn't eaten in weeks.

On screen, Jax burst into the zord hangar, his body enveloped in white energy.

Tommy shouted, "Fire all guns!"

Vlar obeyed, and Jamie explained, "Of course!  He needs energy –quickly.  This will give him a boost until he can escape Threa's atmosphere.  He does not dare fully power up until he is off planet."

The multicolored energy poured into Jax, who absorbed it greedily.  The aura surrounding him grew in size and intensity, becoming blindingly white, until Jax was no longer visible.

_"After Norzod!"_

"Rangers, to your zords.  He'll need the Megazord up there as back up."

The five teleported directly to the cockpits on Tommy's directive.

Tommy was full to bursting with energy... he felt himself flying without the benefit of a zord.  The planet's surface fell away in the blink of an eye; before him loomed the velvet blackness of space, lit with pinpricks of starlight.  Never had he felt so free.  Never had he felt so wild.  The fire within teetered on the brink of his control.

_"The coordinates Vlar gave you, concentrate on them.  Fix them in your mind.  Reach out to them...."_

Tommy felt himself expanding –it was as if he was one with the cosmos.  He felt a star die.

On the view screen, the pulsing orb of energy that was the Imbera exploded and took shape –that of a giant avian.  The fiery bird of prey emitted a keening cry that thundered through Tommy as he/they swept after their malevolent quarry.  The chase led away from Threa and its sun towards the outer reaches of the solar system where the Atler Armada awaited.

To Tommy, it was as if he was at the controls of his Falcon Zord once again.  Blood pounding... senses alive with the glory of flight... he _was_ the Falcon, Winged Lord of the Skies.

_"Stop him before he reaches the ships!"_

With a burst of speed, the flaming bird streaked past its prey only to pull up in the void between Norzod and his minions.

_"You won't escape me this time!"_ the gestalt Imbera declared determinedly.

_"It matters not if you destroy me.  Others will take up where I leave off.  I –and those of my ilk– are as much a part of the natural order of the universe as you,"_ Norzod retorted with bravado.

_"You're toast, Norzod!"_

Flame-like tongues of energy leaped from the open beak.  The darkness that was Norzod sought to retreat; however, the Megazord arrived, Solar Saber at the ready.  The blazing blade slashed out, cleaving through the heart of the evil miasma.  Ripples of black waves radiated out from the point of contact.

_"Contain him."_

Massive wings fanned the star field, forcing the energy to coalesce into a swirling orb.  Talons reached out to hold –to crush– tighter and tighter until there was nothing left.

Except the fleet.

With a cry that shook the heavens, the great bird turned tail to face the invading ships.

_"Your leader is destroyed; take your lives and go.  Now."_

Sadly, predictably, the response was the flagship opening fire.  The Imbera dove toward the phalanx of ships.  One great wing sliced through the point vessel.  Mercifully, the men inside died quickly, but their death cries would be remembered for years to come, haunting nightmares.

The firebird banked, ready to face its next foe when rose up that ravenous hunger once again.

_"Need more...."_ growled the Imbera/Jax.

_"No!  No more!"_ Kim shouted.  _"Control it!  Control the hunger!  Give in to it, and Threa may die!"_

While lasers lit the void around it, another battle raged within the Imbera –a battle of wills between Jax/Kim/Tommy and the entity that they had become.  

_"Let the power go, Jax; let it go!"_ Kim urged.

Around them, the Imbera's devastating blow and total disregard for the energy bombarding it determined the course of the remaining ships.  They veered off, scattering as they headed back out of the system.  The Megazord gave chase, making sure none remained.

_"Let it go, Jax.  Let the power go.  Return it to the stars for now."_

"Rangers, stand by to retrieve Jax," Tommy relayed, feeling the energy –his very life– draining from him.  He felt himself growing smaller –becoming dimmer, colder, emptier.  Jax and Kim began to fade from his mind.  He was alone –as he had not been since Kim first called to him.

When the last of Jax's powers left him, Tommy collapsed in a boneless heap on the floor, a last thought from Kimberly echoing in his mind.

_"We got him.  It's over at last."_


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Are you _ever_ going to wake up?"

The petulant query pierced the thick morass filling Tommy's head, and it helped him find his way through the murkiness back to consciousness.  Although, he wasn't certain he wanted to leave the darkness behind; what was there to look forward to?  Norzod was destroyed.  Kimberly was gone....

The void left behind from her transferring to Jax's mind loomed large and seemingly insurmountable.  She had told him she couldn't stay, but he had always harbored the hope that he could convince her otherwise.  He felt emptier now than he had the day he first heard of her death.

"At this rate, nobody is ever going to be able to have a bonding ceremony," the speaker harumphed, and Tommy recognized the put-upon woman as Shan.

He dimly recalled collapsing in the Command Center.  When Jax had released the Imbera energy, the three-way mindlink had dissolved, and Tommy had been like a marionette whose strings had been cut.  It had been like when Rita had drained his Green Ranger powers, except much faster.  The others had probably taken him to the infirmary and posted a watch.  How long had he been out?  And did he want to wake up now and face the energetic teen's interrogation?

"I think he is faking it," came a new voice filled with amusement.  It was Jax.

"Really?" Shan asked with interest.  "How can you tell?"

"A little voice told me."

A little...!  Tommy sat up –too quickly.  Lightheaded, he crashed down on the pillow with a moan as a wave of dizziness swept through him.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Jax greeted him.  The statement was so unlike his normally serious descendant that Tommy wondered what else of Kim's –besides her knowledge– had rubbed off on their great-grandson.

"Are you _really_ grandfather's grandfather?" Shan chirped eagerly.

It took Tommy a moment to mentally climb his family tree.  He finally answered, "Yes."

"Oh my...!"

"Shan, please let your great-grandfather know that Tommy has regained consciousness," Jax requested, sending her after Jamie.

"But...." the youngster whined in protest.

"You can ask all your questions later," Tommy promised with a long-suffering sigh.

"All right!" she bubbled happily and scampered off.

"You did not have to do that," Jax informed him with a knowing smile, as if to say he knew exactly what was going to happen.

"I know that look in her eyes," Tommy replied.  "Sooner or later, she was going to pin me down.  I might as well get the inevitable over with."

"For someone who is barely out of his adolescence, you are a wise man."

"My friends would have a lot to say about that –and not necessarily in agreement," Tommy chuckled.  Then, he sobered.  "How are you doing?  And what about Kim?"

"I cam through all right; after releasing the power, I was only unconscious for a day.  You have been comatose for three days," Jax said.  "I am sorry, Tommy.  Neither Kimberly nor I realized how deeply into the link you had been subsumed.  I had drained not only the Imbera energy but yours as well."

"I'm glad I was there with you two," Tommy assured him, and he squirmed, anxious to find out about Kim's fate.  "Is Kim still with you?  Is she all right?  The link didn't totally drain her, did it?"

Jax was cautious in answering.  "She is all right –weak, but well.  She has not returned to the Morphin' Grid yet; she is still teaching me a great deal about my powers.  Also, she wished to be present for the bonding ceremonies."

"Can I talk to her?" asked Tommy hopefully.

"She is resting at the moment, trying to conserve energy, but...."

Tommy's conversation with Kim would have to wait.  Jamie arrived with quite an entourage in tow.  Accompanying him were Lris, Vlar, Beys, Twyn and Marg.

Exclamations of relief and happiness were traded all around, but Tommy noticed that Jamie seemed more reserved than the others –unusually so.

"What's wrong?" Tommy asked of his son.

"I cannot believe I fell for Norzod's deception," Jamie murmured guiltily.  "I knew mother was dead, but I had always wished that I could have been able to save her...."

"Jamie, if I hadn't been talking to Kim all along, I would have fallen for it, too," Tommy consoled him.  "We both wanted to believe."

"Jax told us what happened –linking with Mother and the rest.  While you were recuperating, she told him everything that the two of you had worked out."  Jamie shook his head in disbelief.  "From the beginning, you kept insisting that you were hearing Mother, and I kept telling you that it could not be so.  Then, when you kept telling me that the woman in lab was not Mother...."

"You didn't listen, either," Tommy laughed, trying to ease his son's feelings of self censure.  He turned to Marg.  "Did we ever figure out who that body really was?  My guess is Norzod found Kim's pod and used D'Ez's powers to shape someone else to look like her."

"Good guess," Marg said, "but that really was Kimberly's body –a _cloned_ body.

"A clone?"

"I knew by the way the body crumbled at the end.  Clones that are subjected to accelerated growth are unstable and turn to dust when they die: total cellular breakdown."

"Where did he get the material to make a clone?  The pod?"

"No, dead tissue will not work," the healer replied.

"It came from the lab in the Command Center," Vlar spoke up.

"Once we knew about the clone, we checked the tissue banks," Twyn took up the tale.  "Those were in the lab D'Ez raided.  He stole Grandmother's last tissue sample...."

"...created the clone, probably using D'Ez's powers to mimic the Imbera's injuries, and sent her to us in the hopes of obtaining the Imbera powers," Beys summarized.

"And you and Kim are sure Norzod didn't get away like he did the last time?" Tommy asked of Jax.

"We are positive," Jax declared, "but Norzod was right.  There will be others after him who will come and try to conquer our world."

"But we will not allow ourselves to become complacent again," Vlar assured him.

"How soon will you be returning to Earth now that the crisis is over?" Jamie wondered.

"I don't know.  I'm not even sure how long I've been gone –in Earth days," Tommy confessed.  "So I should probably be getting back once Marg says I'm healthy enough for interdimensional travel."

"You will stay long enough to attend the bonding ceremony, won't you?" Lris invited.

"Of course I'll stay for that –Shan would kill me otherwise," Tommy remarked with a wry grin.

"She was rather put out that we delayed the ceremonies for your benefit," Jamie laughed.

"Ceremonies?" Tommy queried.

"Lris and myself...."

"Prist and I...."

Then all eyes turned to Twyn, Vlar and Beys.  Twyn blushed, and Vlar smiled widely.

"Well...?" Tommy prompted.

"She has agreed on one condition," Vlar began.

"That Jax is successful in repairing the damage to my brain," Twyn finished.

"There is still some damage beyond my ability to repair," Marg explained, "but between my knowledge and Jax's powers, we should be able to correct the damage."

"I think everyone here would agree with me when I say it is about time," Beys concluded."

* * * 

Tommy melted into the shadows as the wedding celebration continued, the merriment spiraling out of bounds until it was on the edge of becoming a drunken orgy.

_Frat boys have nothing on Threans when it comes to partying,_ he observed.

_"But then, it's not everyday that they celebrate the weddings of three Imberas and the destruction of the bad guy."_

_"Kim!"_  Tommy exclaimed happily.  _"I'd hoped to talk to you before I left."_

_"You're leaving before the party's over?"_

_"It seems like a good idea, all things considered."   _He gave a meaningful nod towards the festivities._  "Besides, I don't know that I'd be able to say good-bye.  It's too tempting to stay and see how all this –the family-- turns out._ _ Jamie knows my plan, though."_

_"Do you know we're going to be grandparents again?"_

_"Uh huh, and I doubt Jax and Prist will be too far behind.  What about Twyn and Vlar?"_

_"Hard telling.  She still has a lot of healing to do."_

_"They'll be having another one if Beys has anything to say in the matter."_

Kim had to laugh at that.

_"You know something, Beautiful?  We have a wonderful family."_

_"Just like we always dreamed of –once upon a time."_

A weighty silence followed her words, and Tommy gathered his courage to ask his next question.

_"You're returning to the Morphin' Grid?"_

_"Tommy...."_ Kim chided.

_"I know; we've already discussed this," _he sighed resignedly.  _"You can't blame me for hoping you'd change your mind, can you?"_

_"Let me go, Tommy,"_ Kim advised.  _"I know you'll always love me, and we'll be together again someday.  Until then, don't be afraid to open your heart to someone else.  You have a big heart, Tommy; there's room for all the loves in your life."_

Tommy felt himself growing misty-eyed at the thought of saying good-bye yet again to this woman he loved.

_"I'll have Jax send me back to the Grid once he's ready to link with Jamie; that way I won't be in the way."_

_"Will you be all right?  You won't be too weak, will you?"_ Tommy asked, a lump in his throat.  He worried that she had expended too much of her energy and that her spirit would dissipate all the faster.

_"I'm as strong as I ever was, thanks to you.  I think residing in your mind and heart –your love– recharged me,"_ she said.  _"I'll be able to keep an eye on this bunch –and you."_

_"But I'll never know, will I?"_

_"Maybe.  Maybe not."_

_"Kim...."_

_"I'll always love you, Tommy,"_ she murmured, and Tommy could have sworn he felt something brush against his lips.  _"Now, go home.  Live for me, Tommy.  Live for us both."_

As with the phantom kiss, Tommy felt something brush his wrist, and he saw that the signal to Billy had been activated.  The dimensional doorway had begun to open.

_"Good-bye, Beautiful,"_ he murmured as space and time folded about him and Threa faded away.

* * *

"Tommy?  Tommy, are you all right?"

The world around Tommy swam into focus, and the former Ranger found Billy trying to steady him.

"Billy?"

Looking around, he saw that he was back in the demolished Power Chamber.  He noticed, too, that Billy had brought in some supplies and had set up camp.

"Welcome back," a new voice chimed in, and another pair of hands guided him to a seat.

"Jason?" Tommy queried numbly.

"I wasn't sure how long you'd be gone, so I went to borrow some camping supplies just in case," Billy explained.

"And I decided to keep him company, but we didn't expect you back so soon."  Jason shook his head scoldingly and huffed, "You ought to know better than to go off having adventures without me."

"I explained everything to him," Billy said, and Tommy say the contents of his black box spread out in the center of the camp.

He wasn't sure how he felt about that.  He didn't mind Jason knowing the full story about Kim and Jamie, but it still kind of felt like his privacy had been invaded.  Not that he wouldn't have told Jason himself anyway.  Perhaps, this was just an extension of his gloomy mood.  He was already on edge....

"How long was I gone?" he asked tiredly, his whole demeanor dispirited, and he noted his friends' concern in their expressions.

"About two and a half hours," Jason answered.

"How long did that translate into on Threa?" Billy asked.

"About twelve days."

"Five days to one Earth hour," the young genius murmured, completing his computations.

"What happened?  Did you defeat Norzod?" Jason pursued.

"He's gone for good –and so is she," Tommy choked out, his emotions threatening to overwhelm him, and he did nothing to check them.

Billy and Jason exchanged startled glances.  There was only one _she_ who provoked such a strong display of feeling in their friend.  Both had been more than a little concerned about how Tommy was going to handle seeing the family he had created with her.

"Can you tell us...?" Billy prompted gently.

"I lost Kim again...!" and the tale of Tommy's adventures came pouring out.

Neither Billy nor Jason spoke throughout the recitation; they refrained from asking questions, sensing that Tommy needed this time to grieve.

And grieve he did, with an outpouring of emotion he hadn't allowed himself since Kim's funeral two years ago.

"You did the right thing, Tommy," Jason offered consolingly at the conclusion of his best friend's story.

"As difficult as it may be to accept, Kimberly wasn't truly alive, even though her consciousness still existed.  What kind of life or relationship could you have had with a presence in your mind?  What kind of existence would it have been for Kim to live vicariously through you?  She had to return to the Morphin' Grid," Billy said as kindly as he could.

"Don't you think I know all that?" Tommy snapped, his words tinged with bitterness.  "It doesn't matter how right it was; I still lost the woman I loved –again!"

"Tommy, you haven't lost her again.  She'll always be there for you, and someday you two will be reunited in the Morphin' Grid.  Until then, you have to move on and live, like she asked," Jason pointed out.

"What if I don't want to move on?  What if I don't want to replace Kim?"

"Moving on doesn't necessarily mean finding someone to replace Kim," Billy said.  "What it means is not turning your back on love if it should find you again.  Don't let your feelings for Kim deny you another chance at happiness.  I think you'll find your heart is big enough to hold all the loves in your life."

"That's what she said," Tommy grumbled petulantly.  Then, he sighed.  "It still hurts, though, guys."

"Give it time, Tommy.  You're not yet twenty-one; you've a lot of time ahead of you," Billy said.  "Grieve for her, then live for her."

"You know, there _is_ another really good reason for you to move on," Jason began, a twinkle of mischief in his eye.

"What's that?"

Jason couldn't keep a straight face as he replied, "Well, Kimberly said she'd be keeping an eye on you from the Grid, right?  Do you even want to know how much trouble you'll be in if you don't do what she asked you to do?"

Billy added, "I, for one, do not wish to spend the rest of my days in the Morphin' Grid listening to her chew you out."

Tommy felt his lips twitching to smile in spite of himself.

"Yeah, when she got a burr under her saddle, Kim could make everyone miserable," Jason continued.

"Indubitably," Billy concurred.

"You'd be doing the rest of us a _big_ favor...."

"All right!  All right!" Tommy chuckled, holding up his hands in surrender.  "I'll try, okay?  I won't make any promises, but I'll try."

"That's all anyone can ask, Tommy," Billy said soberly.

As Tommy nodded in acquiescence, Jason and Billy relaxed a little.  At least Tommy was willing to try.  Giving vent to his feelings –making the effort– would be the first step in the healing process.  In time, their friend would live and love again.

"Say, Billy, do you have to get back to Eltar right away?" Tommy queried suddenly.

"I have no pressing engagements at the moment."

"Jase, what about you?"

"I'm free for a while.  What's up?

"I really don't feel like being alone right now."

"Sure, bro."

"Of course, Tommy."

"What I really feel like is going some place, having a few drinks, and telling you a few of the stories Jamie told me about Kim.  Man, there were some doozies...."

And in the Morphin' Grid, an indignant voice shouted, _"Thomas James Oliver, don't you dare!"_

The End

My thanks to all the folks who have read this and have reviewed it.  I appreciated all your wonderful comments; I'm only sorry I couldn't respond to you all individually (a two-year-old doesn't leave you much time for e-mail) : )  CR

PS: for all of you who wished for a little different ending, keep your eyes open. : )


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